Date A Dragon
by huytran214
Summary: A sequel/AU to my "A Meeting With The Devil" fic. Kyon thought he has enough problems in his life already but now, he has to face against a new threat. Only this time, he will have to use a different way to defeat it.
1. Chapter 1

A ruin city.

That's what you can call this place right now. The street, the trees, the buildings have been wiped out, completely destroyed. The whole place looks like it has been scraped off. That is where I am now. I can only look at the landscape with antonishment. It has been a long time since I saw such a destructive power. Tracking down the source, I found a person standing before me.

An extremely beautiful girl. Beautiful enough to steal a person's heart the moment they glance at her.

That's a pretty good way to describle her. Her appearance is like that of a princess. Her outfit looks like a cross between an armor and a dress. It gave off a noble aura. Her long dark purple hair is tied back using a butterfly-shaped hair accessory and a pair of gauntlets which has petal-like cuffs. A pair of purple eyes with white pupils are staring at me. They told me about what she's feeling. From looking at they, I see that she's curious, annoyed, sad and strangely enough, afraid.

You could say she's an impossibly beautiful girl but true to be told, only half of my mind is thinking about her beauty so I can't be sure. The other half is looking at something in her hand. A sword. A huge broadsword. There's really nothing wrong with this since she's already strange enough and I'm used to seeing weapon but I don't feel normal. There can be only one reason for it and it's not a good one.

That sword is pointing at me. Not only that, it has killing intent. Naturally, I am now feeling human's most basic emotion: Fear. Fear of dying, to be more percise. There's nothing that gurantee this sword won't cut me in half. Also, it's not a normal sword. No normal sword has that much power in it.

"What-" Dazed, I could only mutter out one question. "- is your name?"

That was my idiotcity speaking, by the way. Not a suitable question for this kind of situation. Not something all of you should copy.

"—I have no such thing" She replied with a sad voice.

There were no doubts about it, this girl isn't human. There's also one thing I can be certain of, she wants to kill me. After all, there's nothing that can explain her drawing out her sword.

"Can you tell me why are you pointing that at me?" I raised both of my hands up. I was certain that I know the answer but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Of course—kill you quickly." She answered like it's a natural thing.

I know I'm suppose to run away with my face as blue as paint by now but my Dulcinea Effect is acting up, I can't stand seeing a girl looking so sad like that.

"Well, that's... nice." I scratched my head. I am sweating too. "May I ask why must you kill me?" Hopefully, she got a sensible reason. I don't want to hear something like "You're annoying so I will kill you" or "You're in my way so I will kill you". I have enough hearing that kind of reason already.

"Why...? Is it not obvious?" She cocked her head to the side. I must admit, she looks really cute doing so. "Didn't you come to kill me as well?"

My mind went blank at those words. Kill her? Do I look like I'm free enough for that? Also, I'm not stupid enough to kill such a dangerous girl.

"I think there are some misunderstandings here." I began my attemp to defuse this situation. "I won't do anything to you, let alone kill!"

"—What?" The girl looked at me with a mixture of surprise, suspicion, and confusion. I still am not trustworthy enough, however since she soon narrowed her eyes. Wait, she's looking upward. Copying her, I look to the beautiful blue sky.

And immediately realized that my day just got even worse. Much worse.

To understand how bad this day really is, you have to know the beginning.

* * *

Morning. The beginning of a brand new chapter in everyone's life. The most dreadful part of a day. Not only I have to deal with the sun that is burning me alive but also a very annoying family member.

When I tiredly opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was someone dancing passionately. A short red hair girl in twintails style with white ribbons wearing a middle school uniform. She has failed to realize that when someone dances, they dance on the floor. There's nothing in the dancing manual that say you can dance on someone's stomach. Especially not on your brother's!

"Kotori, stop that already!" I grabbed her leg. The action made her lost her balance but she soon regained it, unfortunately. "My stomach has enough pain to last a lifetime. There's no need to add more."

"Geez, Kyon. I could have fallen!" She said with an irrating voice. She doesn't seem to realize that I wanted her to fall. That way, she won't interfe with my sleep again. I am seriously in need of a good sleep these days.

By the way, Kyon's not my name. It's a very dangerous virus without cure or vaccine created by my aunt. It infected everyone who heard of the name "Kyon", human and nonhuman. All the infected have my real name stripped away from their minds. Thus, only that nickname remain. To give you more detail, my little sister was the first infected. Ever since then, the word "Onii-chan" has forever left her mind. Yare yare, I am a failure as a brother.

"Why do you keep doing this?" After Kotori jumped off the bed, I sat up. My eyes can only open half way so everything is quite blur. I wiped my eyes. My mind went back to the past. More specicfically, it went back to every morning before this one. One common thing in all of them is my sister's_ creative_ ways to wake me up. The most recent one is, of course, that stomach dance. If I remember correctly, yesterday was a drop kick. Sigh, my morning always starts in pain. Sometimes I think that my sister's a killer robot in disguise. Her attacks are too powerful for a normal human.

"Because that's the only way to wake you up!" She crossed her arms. "After all, Ophis-chan is way too kind to do what needs to be done."

I sat up. Just simple action and yet I felt like I have run around the world five-times nonstop. I then looked to the side. Another girl is staring at me. A girl with long black hair that reach the floor. She had pale skin and was wearing a dress like a Gothic Lolita. It was black in colour with frills on each side and a pink bow just below her collar-bone while on her head was a pink frilly head band. Her grey eyes show no emotions.

"Why are you still wearing that?" I said as I planted my feets on the ground. "Haven't I bought you something else?" My wallet still hasn't recovered from that, just to let you know.

"I like it."

A short, straight to the point and in a monotone voice, that's pretty much how she say all of her lines. I have learned to get used to it. It was simple enough since she isn't the only one like that in my life.

"Come on, Kyon, let go down already!" My sister said excitedly as she ran down the stairs. "Breakfast is propbably done by now."

"Okay okay, I will be there." Finally freeing myself from my bed prison. I opened the closet. There was a mirror on the door so I was able to check how miserable I am. Hmm, there are gray lines under my eyes. How much sleep have I lost? Maybe I should ask Nagato, she would gave me the exact number.

"You know, I'm about to get dressed." I turned to the second occupant in the room. She stared at me for about five minutes before walked out of the door. Shaking my head at how slow the girl can be, I returned to what I was doing. After checking that I'm all set to go, I joined those two. My parents have gone on a trip oversea so technically, there shouldn't be anyone else beside me and my sister in this house. Unfortunately, three unvited guests have invaded it and is now staying like they are the owners. To give a short description about them, I can say three words: A dragon, a witch and a cat. That's enough for you to understand.

As I reached the ground floor, a delicious smell passed by my nose. I entered the living room, following the smell. My sister has turned on the TV and is watching it while sitting on the sofa. Behind her is a table. On it is a bunch of good-looking foods that make you feel like you're living in a five-stars hotel. Ophis is helping the cook. I sat on a chair. There's really no point in watching TV since Kotori always turns on a fortune-telling channel or something similar. I don't need to see it to know that my day is going to get worse. It happens everyday. Though it seems like there are none right now since Kotori decided to watch a news show.

"—Early this morning, in the suburbs of Tenguu City—"

Those words sparkled my interest so I turned around. On the screen now is the image of a street that had been absurdly destroyed was being displayed. Buildings and roads had been reduced to mountains of rubble. The devastation was like the impact of a meteorite, or maybe the scene of an air raid. In reality, however, the reason for that's more complicate.

Spacequake.

Just like it's name, a quake happening in space. It's a pheomenon that started 30 years ago. The very first spacequake happened in the middle of Eurasia—the region that had contained countries such as the Soviet Union, China, and Mongolia, causing them to have disappeared in a single night. About 150 million people died. More similar incidents occured all over the world in the following six months. Of course, Japan isn't an exception. Six months after the Eurasia Sky Disaster, the region from South Tokyo to Kanagawa Prefecture had turned into a circle of scorched earth, as if an eraser had been applied to it.

Naturally, all three factions: Angel, Fallen Angel and Devil have started investigating the cause. Azazel told me that they belived that Spacequake isn't a natural pheomenon. There are edividences that suggest it is because of forced summonings. Someone from a different dimension was forcefully teleported here and the spacequake happened due to the unstability of the summoning. Sadly, they still have no ideas who or what was summoned or where did they come from. Then again, I haven't contacted Azazel for a long time so I may have missed a lot.

I know what you're thinking. Spacequake has happened for 30 years and now those guy decided to investigate!? Well, thirty years ago, those three factions still have some problem to deal with like themselves and a certain terrorist organization. Beside, Spacequake suddenly stopped after the first few times. Only recently did they com back. At the time, there was no reason to belive that it would happen again.

"They seem to happen a lot these days. I wonder why -nya." Carrying a dish on her hands, the cook turned back to me. She is a voluptuous young woman with long black hair with split bangs and hazel eyes with cat-like pupils. Behind her pink kimono is a black kimono, a yellow obi, a set of golden beads, and an ornately detailed headband.

"Who know, maybe the god of luck has left this place for good." I poured myself a drink. "By the way, where's Le Fay?" I looked around.

"She has to go help Vali -nya." The cat woman whispered.

"So why are you still here?"

"Kyon-kun, how mean!" She looked hurt. Her hand is pretending to wipe away the tears. "Why do you want me to go away so much -nya?"

"I think you know full well the reason." I began drinking.

"If you weren't so stubborn, I wouldn't have to do that."

Stubborness is the only thing that keep me from losing my virginity.

"Breakfast is ready!" She shouted. Funny, Kotori seems to be shaking.

"A-ah, you guys eat first." Sweat formed on my sister. Also, her voice is a little strange.

"Kotori, how many times have I told you not to eat sweets before the meal?" I didn't even need to look.

"H-how did you know!?"

"I can smell that lolipop." The smell of a Chupa Chups candy, my sister's favorite candy is unmistakenable. I have been her brother for years already, there's no way I couldn't realize she's doing something bad. Despite that I have found out, she still refused to put away the candy.

"...Jeez. You'd better properly eat your breakfast!" I gave up. Separating a couple is much easier than separating Kotori and her candy. To succeed in it, I would need to use force and I would never do that even if you gave me a hundred dollars. Actually, a billon dollars and I may consider it.

"Remeber to not eat too much, okay?" The cat woman chuckled at the scene. Strange, I don't remember doing a comedy show for her.

"You two are the best, Kyon, Kuroka nee-san!"

Ever since Kuroka decided to stay here along with her companions, she has become the cook of this house and pretty much Kotori's babysitter. Her helpfuness is, unfortunately, overshadowed by her attempt to get into my bed. Every nights, I have to think of a different ways to stop her from getting near my bed. Since she's a very powerful Senjutsu and Youjutsu user, Kuroka has never run out of plans. That's the reason why I haven't got any good sleeps lately. To make it worse, Kuroka doesn't just mess with me, she also messes with everything else in the house. I can't count how many times Le Fay has to apology for Kuroka's actions.

"You still haven't answer my question, Kuroka?" I took a bite of the food. Damn, her cooking never fails to amaze. "Aren't you going to help Vali too?"

"Of course but I will do that later -nya."

"Ehhhh! Kuroka nee-san is going to leave!?" Kotori has overheard our conversation and now has a very shocked face. She and Kuroka have become very closed with each other. She consideres Kuroka to be an cool older sister and looks up to her a lot. That spell troubles for me, however, since now I have to deal with TWO demons in my home. There's no telling what they can do together. In spite of all my sadness that I won't be having this kind of food for some times, I'm glad that one of the demons is about to leave.

"Don't worry, Kotori-chan, I will be back before you know it -nya."

Just make sure I know about it so I can hide in a bunker.

"You promise?"

"I promise -nya."

After finishing our breakfast, me, Ophis and Kotori walked to the school. Ophis has finally changed into her school uniform. Suddenly, Kotori stopped in front of a family restaurant. She's looking at it with a finger in front of her mouth. It doesn't take a genius to know what she's thinking.

"...Now that I think about it, today's the middle school opening ceremony, right?" I wondered out loud.

"That's right~" Kotori said like she's singing.

"Do you two want something for a lunch?" I asked despite already knowing the answer.

After Kotori thought it through with a "Hmmmm", she shook her head, and then suddenly stood up.

"Deluxe kids plate!"

"The same."

I can hear crying, most likely from my wallet. In case you don't know, Deluxe kids plate is a lunch item for kids offered at that little family restaurant. It's Kotori's favorite and after one bite, Ophis' too. It isn't cheap at all. Paying for two is a good way for my wallet to say goodbye to it's content. I straightened his body and opened my mouth to say "no".

...

I couldn't do that, though. Kotori has predicted what I was about to say and is stopping it with those watery eyes. The more I look it, the more I want to say "yes" and yet I'm having a hard time turning away. That weapon is as deadly as ever but I can't lose to it. My life depend on it. I used all of my strength and turned around.

...

Only to meet with another dose of those poisonous eyes, this time coming from Ophis. They are even more deadly than Samael's curse. Given that I died from Samael's curse, there's no way I will survive this if it won't stop.

"Okay, we will eat lunch at that restaurant." I dropped my head. What a sad fate. "We will meet after school at this place."

Sorry about this, wallet.

"No going back on your word! It's a promise! You have to be there even if an earthquake starts or a fire erupts or a spacequake happens or the family restaurant is occupied by terrorists!" Kotori rubbed her hands together in excitement.

This restaurant is pretty good if it can still serve when under attack by terrorists.

"You have to be there!"

"Fine fine, I promise. I will be there." I just can't deal with this little devil in plain sight.

Hearing I say that, Kotori vigorously raised her hands in the air with a "Whoooo~!". She then ran down the street happily. I walked behind her. Suddenly, Ophis tugged my sleeve.

"What is it?" I turned around.

"We are being followed."

She slowly turned her eyes to the side. I also did the same. Our follower seems to have realized they have been found out. The only thing I can see of them was something silver, probably hair.

"I don't sense any evil intents." I turned back to Ophis. "I don't think we need to worry."

"Alright."

We resumed our journey.

* * *

A few minutes after parting way with Ophis and my sister, I reached my school. A huge silver gate is in front of my eyes. To my right and left, there are a lot of people wearing the same clothes as I am. A black blazer with the school uniform on the left pocket.

Raizen High School.

That's my new high school. To remove your curiousity, I was transfered here for my third-year. My parents belived this place is much safer since Spacequake has happened again. True to be told, I think my previous school, Kuoh Academy, is far safer than this. The newest type of underground shelter can't compare to a bunch of people who can fight gods. Even worse, my old friend and _good_ leader, Haruhi Suzumiya, threw a tantrum when she heard about it. It took me two whole days to get her to calm down. I can't count how many times the world was about to end. Sadly, she can't come with me and that also means both my resident alien, Yuki Nagato and esper, Itsuki Koizumi can't come. As for the time traveller, Mikuru Asahina-san, she has graduated. She's studying in a university near my old school. I still have contact with all of them. From what I've heard so far, they are fine.

"Year 3, class 4 huh. I wonder if they are trying to jinx me." Four is quite similar to death, after all.

After checking the class list posted in the corridor, I walked to where my newest classroom is. The moment I reached the door,...

"Yo!"

A not so friendly tap hit my shoulder. Turning around, I saw that it's my old friend, Taniguchi. He has cocky smile on his face.

"Glad to see we are still in the same class."

You seem to have miscounted. The only one glad is you.

"It's too bad that Kunikida can't join us."

Taniguchi transferred here for the same reason as mine. He was actually kinda happy. He always talk about how he will have a better chance to find a girlfriend. Just between you and me, the chance of him having a girlfriend as he's now is as much the chance of Haruhi becoming a normal girl. Then again, life works in a strange way. There's no telling what will happen next.

"By the way, have you seen this?" Taniguchi put a phone right before my face. On the display's a virtual girl. "What do you think? Isn't she cute?"

"Isn't that a girlfriend app?"

Girlfriend app, a tempoary measure to prevent single guy from doing foolish actions just because they can't find a girl. There's nothing wrong with it beside one little thing. The girl on the screen, she looks exactly like Kotori except she has pink hair instead. I see how Taniguchi looks at her. I don't know what kind of feeling he has for Kotori but I won't allow him near her.

"— Kyon."

An unfamilar voice unexpectedly came from behind me. I turned around. The one who said it was a girl. She had white had hair that was barely reaching her shoulders and a face like that of a doll. I almost mistook her for Nagato. They both don't show any emotions. Don't tell me she's an alien... Weird, Taniguchi looks stunned. I wonder what's wrong?

"Sorry, can I ask who you are?" My mind failed to indentifie her so I'm pretty sure I have no idea who she is.

"You don't remember?" I can detect hint of sadness in her voice.

"Yes..." I don't know what else to say.

"I see." She entered the classroom with a dejected face. I feel like I have done something bad. Unfortunately, I still don't know who she is so there's no way to apology.

"NOT AGAIN!"

The sudden shout tempoary deafen my ears. When I turned around, I saw that Taniguchi has collapseed to the floor. I didn't know he loves the ground that much. Suddenly, he grabbed both my shoulders tightly and brought his face close to mine.

"Why do you always take away all the cute girls? Why!?" Tears are coming out of his eyes like waterfall. "I thought that I will have a chance here since both Issei and Kiba aren't around but I forgot about you!" He returned to the ground. "She was a triple A beauty as well. It's so unfair!"

"By the way, who's she?" Ignoring his outbust, I asked the most important question right now.

"What!?" He looked at me like I'm insane. "You don't know who Origami Tobiichi is!?"

Wow, I never realized that you're suppose to know the answer before you ask. Thanks for enlighten me.

"Just tell me who she is." I said irratingly.

"She's the super genius that our school boasts about. You've never heard anything like that?"

"So she's... amazing?" I hope it's not the same kind of amazing as Haruhi.

"Amazing can't even describe it. Her grades are always at the top of the year, and in the mock exam not long ago she got some crazy results and went straight to the top of the nation..."

The more Taniguchi talks about her, the more I think he consider he to be a goddess. Sadly, all that information still can't help me remember about her. I finally gave up and entered the classroom. I sat on the chair to the right of Tobiichi is. She's reading a thick black book which just make her look more similar to Nagato. She sometimes sends glance to me, even when I'm not looking at her. I think she has some problems. I decided to ignore it all and focused my mind back to the lesson today.

* * *

Since then, approximately three hours had passed. The first day in this school didn't have anything special beside that strange girl. Our homeroom teacher's Okamine Tamae — nicknamed Tama-chan, she's in charge of social studies. It seems her childish face and small build that couldn't even pass off as being in the same generation as her students, combined with her leisurely attitude, has earned her tremendous popularity amongst the students. Looking at her, I can understand what everybody is thinking. The opening ceremony had been quite awkward, though, since Tobiichi keept staring at me.

By the way, that doesn't have to do with why I am running in the middle of the street. To start from the beginning, after the opening ceremony ended, me and Taniguchi chat about our new school. Just then, a Spacequake alert was heard. Like any normal person, I headed toward the shelter. Along the way, I passed by Tobiichi who was running in the opposite direction, strangely enough. When I asked, she only said "I will be fine". After that, I remembered about Kotori and Ophis. Kotori said she would come to the restaurant even if a spacequake happens. I didn't think she's that stupid but I checked just in case. I was about to breath in relief when I saw Ophis is in a safe place, not that she needs it, but then I saw that Kotori is in front of that restaurant. I immediately headed over there. Damn that girl, always creating problem for me!

That's when I met that girl and a good moment to end this flashback. To fill in the blank, I met the girl when an explosion happened. The first thing she did was swung her sword, destroying a building behind me. The rest, you can figure out yourself.

Returning back to present, several missles are heading toward me. They were fired by several girls wearing high-tech armor. I prepared to intercept them but it was not needed. The girl stopped them all in place with an invisible barrier.

"...This kind of thing is useless, why can't they ever learn?"

Saying this, the girl raised the hand that was not holding the sword, and squeezed it shut. As she did this, the countless missiles crumpled up, as if being compressed, and exploded where they were. Even the magnitude of the explosions was frighteningly small. It was as if all of the power had been sucked inwards. That little demonstration shock the flying people. As for me, I have seen people who did more impossbile thing. I wasn't fazed one bit.

"—Hmpf"

The girl gave another small sigh, making a face which seemed like tears might come out at any moment. It's the same face as when she pointed that sword at me. She then flew at the one flying and stopped more missles. I don't know why but I just can't stand seeing her face. It reminds me too much of my failure.

"...Disappear, disappear. Anything and everything... Just disappear...!"

While saying that, she pointed the sword that gave off a glow as mysterious as her eyes, towards the sky. Tiredly, sorrowfully, she artlessly swung the sword. Within a moment—the wind howled.

"...W-Wah...!"

A fierce shockwave assaulted the area, as the slash flew towards the sky along the path of the blade. The people flying in the air hurried to avoid it, and withdrew from their position. However, one chose to charge in and attack the girl. Both of them slashed at each other with their swords. Each time the flying girl attacked, her sword was stopped by a barrier. The other girl then cut off parts of the flying girl's armor. Because of this, the flying girl landed beside me.

"Tobiichi!?" I said in shock. The second mysterious girl is in fact, Origami Tobiichi, our school genius.

Tobiichi flicked a glance at me.

"Kyon?" Though you can't hear it clearly, her voice carried a puzzled tone. Her eyes widened for a bit. They soon narrowed as she charged at the other girl again. She raised her lightsaber up. Seeing this, the other girl also brought her sword up to parry the attack.

KA-CHING!

The sound of impact but the two swords didn't touch each other. They were stopped by another pair of swords. Black and red swords that seem too beautiful to be describled by words. They are in my hands. They are my weapons. They are my Sacred Gears.

**"It has been a long time huh."** A voice said in my head. It's the dragon of truth, Enki.

Not long enough, sadly. I can still remember who you are.

**"The same as ever."** I bet he's shaking his head. **"Oh well, let do this already."**

Just what I was thinking.

"Hey, you two, stop this!" I said loudly at the one to my right and left who are in shock. "Why are you two fighting?"

"Kyon, a-are you a spirit!?" Tobiichi looked at me firecely.

Well, I'm pretty sure I haven't died yet.

"You... you are here to kill me, after all!" The strange girl jumped back. Tobiichi did the same. It seems I have become the new target. The intense killing aura is suffocating me.

"No! How many times must I tell you? I'm not going to kill you! Look,..." I planted both of my swords on the ground. "I won't even armed myself."

"You... really don't intend to kill me?" Still pointing her sword at me, the strange girl took a step back.

Trust me, miss, I have better things to do.

"I se..." Before she can finished her words, the strange girl disappeared. No traces of her remains. It's like she never existed.

"Target lost." Tobiichi turned her eyes toward me, the sword's still in her hand.

"Hey hey, I'm not a threat!" Once again, I raised my hands up.

"You're still someone suspicious."

I want to play this nicely but seeing that her friends are coming back, let just get out of here.

"Sorry about this!" My swords, which were on the ground, came to my hands. Before Tobiichi can react, I went pass her. She was about to give chase but the rest of her armor fell apart due to my attacks which are too quick to be seen by naked eyes. By the time she regained her senses, I have already out of sight.

As I run away, I think about what just happened. That weird girl isn't an angel, fallen angel or devil. She's not a human as well. A new race? Possible but she could be a valkyrie, the appearance fits... Unlikely, I have never seen someone like her before. Tobiichi is strange too. She's definitely a human but she was able to fight that girl. It must be because of that armor. It doesn't seem like a Sacred Gear. What was that armor? Could it be...

CRASH!

Argh, that hurt! I crashed into a door. Looking around, I saw that I'm now in a strange room. It looks like something that come out of a science fiction movie. How did I get here? I didn't sense any magic powers.

Then, the door opened. A man came in. He has black hair and an evil face. He wears a white lab coat. Seeing me, he gives an annoying grin.

"Yo, Kyon-kun!" He raised his hand up.

"Azazel!?"

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Walking along a construction like a narrow corridor, I talked to Azazel. There's no reason for his presence here. In face, he should be where Issei and the others are.

"I'm here to research, of course." He gave a big smile. "This place's filled with secrets!"

"Where's this place anyway?"

"This is the Fraxinus." Said the woman before us. Her name's Murasame Reine, the Analysis Officer. At least, that was how she introduce herself. She wears a milltary clothes in brown color with a teddy bear filled with stiches sticking out of the pocket. When I saw her face, I figured out the she has even less sleeps than me. Given her body had been swaying unsteadily, I'm sure she's not a good example for healthy lifestyle. When asked, she said that she haven't slept for 30 years. She even drank more than 10 sleeping pills at once! I'm surprised she's still alive.

"The Fraxinus?"

"In short, it's a flying ship." Azazel explained to me.

Fanstatic, I have found myself in another mess.

"By the way,..." I whispered to Azazel. "Do they know about_ those_ stuffs?"

"Those stuffs?" He's not good at pretending to be ignorant.

"I mean the devil, angel, fallen angel stuffs."

"Ah you mean that." He chuckled. "No, they don't. I told them that I'm just a scientist."

"And they aren't suspicious of you?"

"My researchs proved how trustworthy I am."

The one in charge needs to be more genre savy.

"Reine, can I ask a question?"

"...Let leave that for later. There's someone I want to introduce you to. ...I know you have a lot of questions, but I'm bad at explaining. If you want any specifics you should ask that person."

I don't have time for that. My sister's still out there. I need to get to her.

"Be patient, Kyon-kun." Azazel placed his hand on my shoulder. "All your questions will be answered."

Why are you grinning evily, Azazel?

"...We are here."

At the end of the road, in front of a door with a small electronic panel on the side, Reine-san stopped and said. In the next moment, the electronic panel made a light beep, and the door smoothly slid open.

"...There, please come in."

Reine-san stepped inside. Me and Azazel followed behind.

"...This is..."

I took in the scenery on the other side of the door. To explain with a single sentence, it was a place like the bridge of a ship. In front of the door that I passed through, the floor spread out in a half oval, and positioned in its center was a chair that seemed to be the captain's seat. Furthermore, following the gently sloped stairs on its two sides lead to a lower level, where the crew members could be seen operating complex looking consoles. It was dim as a whole, and the monitors scattered here and there gave off a light that unpleasantly asserted their presence.

"...I've brought him."

Reine-san dizzily swayed her head as she spoke.

"Good work."

The tall guy standing beside the captain's seat gave a light bow like a butler. He had wavy hair and a nose that doesn't seem Japanese. He was a young man with looks that could appear in BL novels.

"Hello. I am the Vice Commander here, Kannazuki Kyouhei. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." I bowed my head. For a moment, I thought he was the one Reine-san talked about but then he said.

"Commander, Analysis Officer Murasame has returned."

Kannazuki-san called out, and from the captain's seat which had its back facing them, a low groan was heard, while it slowly rotated around.

And then.

"—I welcome you. Welcome, to Ratatoskr."

A lovely, familar voice reached my ears. The one who said to me wears black ribbons on her head and a crimson military uniform on her shoulders. She has a small build, round eyes like acorns, and in her mouth is a lolipop. There's no way I could mistake her face. After all, I see it everday. It's the face of...

"Kotori?"

My sister.

* * *

Author's note: This is a sequel/AU to my "Meeting With The Devil" fic. Kyon has a different Sacred Gear in this fic. It's something I want to use for my rewrite of the aformention fic. Since nobody likes that so I will just some of that ideas here.

As for why I chose Date A Live, well, I figured that Kyon is pretty much an overpowered character by the end of the fic and I want to write a sequel. So I decided to use Date A Live since fighting isn't a huge focus. I orginally intended this chapter to be much longer but it was too much for me.

Finally, please review.


	2. Chapter 2

"—So, this here is the monster that we call a Spirit, and here is the AST. They're JGSDF's Anti Spirit Team. You've gotten yourself into a pretty worrisome situation. If we hadn't recovered you, you'd probably have died two or three times by now. So, onto the next thing—"

I don't know what's more shocking. The fact I was attacked by a powerful girl with a broadsword in her hand. The fact that a weird girl in my class was fighting against the other girl while wearing a high-tech armor which was kinda revealing, I suppose its creator is a pervert. Not that I don't agree with him. No, the most shocking event of this day turns out to be seeing my sister on a airship. My sister, who is suppose to be a middle school student, is now pointing at the screen which show the several unfamiliar images. What even stranger is her clothes, no where to be seen is her school uniform. She has switched to a crimson military outfit which she wears like a cape. She also wears a white shirt with her favorite candy sticking out of the pocket. Looking closely, you could say she's being influenced by movies. Unfortunately, this is too real to be a movie.

In case I haven't told you yet, I'm on an airship. It looks like I'm in the bridge. Surround me are several people wearing uniform. They are all sitting on beside the tables, typing on a display. The whole thing feels like a very expensive to make science fiction movie. Sitting on the commander's chair is, of course, my sister. To her left is a young man with blonde hair, apparently he's the vice commander. To her right is the two scientists, Reine-san and Azazel. I don't know what I should do or say in this situation. My mind has stopped working. I have pressed the reboot button but it will take some times... Okay, it has gone back to normal. My mind, that is. Not exactly 100% working but it will do.

"Let take this slow, shall we?" I raised my hands to create a stop signal. "You're speaking too fast."

"What is it? After all the trouble this commander is going through to directly give you an explanation. If you're going to cry, then do so with more dignity. Since it's like this, I can at least give you the special privilege of licking the bottom of my foot." Kotori gave a stream of abuse at me while lightly raising her chin. She raised her foot in front of my face.

Well, I will do it if you can clean that foot a twice a day. After that, remember to cover it with a towel which has the sweetest smell.

"You're the same as ever." She put her foot back.

"I think we should start from the beginning. First thing first, who are you all?" I pointed at everyone in the place beside me and Azazel.

"What's this, did you forget your little sister's face, Kyon?" She sighed. "I knew you were bad at remembering things, but I hadn't expected it to be this bad. Maybe it'd be a good idea to reserve a spot at a retirement home right now."

"Sorry, I have no money for that." Beside, I already have a vacation house. It's in the Underworld. A gift from Sirzechs-san. Though, calling it a house is an understament.

"We will pay for you."

"I don't accept money from strangers."

"You still can't recognize your sister!?"

"Well, my sister is not a commander of a ship." I pointed out an important fact.

"She is now!" Kotori pointed at herself. There's little doubts that I have pissed her off. I can lines of sweat dropping on everyone's face beside Azazel and Reine-san. The others in the room are muttering about I'm somekind of monster for being able to talk against Kotori. I hope they don't know the true about what I am, I don't want them to have a heart attack. Turning back to Kotori, I saw her about to click her finger but she took a deep breath and put her hand down.

"Just tell me what's going on." I pointed at the screen. On it is a display of the princess I met just a few minutes ago. "So... you call that girl... a Spirit?" I remembered about what Kotori said before I interrupted her. The only thing I can remember, in fact. I didn't pay much attention.

"It's what we decided to call that girl." Azazel explained to me. "She is a being that did not exist in this world originally. Just by appearing, she causes the surrounding area to blow away." He closed his hands then opened them, mimicking an explosion.

Then she's responsible for the spacequake. Looking at her, I just can't bring myself to consider her a bad person. That face, she looks so sad. She probably doesn't intend to do those things. She just wants to be left alone. Still, if I want to help her, I will need more information.

"Well... the scale of the destruction varies. It could be limited to as small as a few meters, or as large as—around the extent of opening a giant hole in the continent." Kotori made a large circle with her arms. She was probably talking about the first spacequake thirty years ago—the one that was coined the Eurasia Sky Disaster.

"Given that you know about her, I think there are organization created to find a way of stopping her, right?" Kotori nodded at my question. "Can you tell me about them?"

"There are two." She raised two of her fingers up. "But let leave that for later. First thing first,..."

"Yes...?"

"Why did you go out while the alert was sounding!? Are you an idiot!? Did you want to die!?" She screamed at me. I feel like a child being scorned by his mother. There's so many things wrong with this scene that make me lose my confidence as a brother. "I don't remember having such a stupid brother!"

Now I'm convinced that she's an alien pretending to be my sister. There's no way the real one would call me "stupid". Unfortunately, I have no proof so I have to let myself be crushed by her insults. Being a brother is way too hard sometimes.

"You're the one who is responsible for my little stunt!" I exclaimed. I then raised my phone up. "Look at this!" I pointed at Kotori's data position. Strange, it still shows that she's in front of the family restaurant. Did she drop her phone?

"Hm? Ahh, that." However, Kotori took her own cell phone out of her pocket. "I was wondering why you'd go outside while the alert was sounding, so this was the reason. How stupid do you think I would be, you dumb brother."

I look back and forth between the two phones. It's Kotori's phone, there's no need to question about it. If it's here then why does my phone say she's in front of that restaurant? Unless...

"This ship, it's in front of that restaurant, isn't it?" I spoke out my thought.

"Alright then. I guess it'd be faster if I just show you. —Cut off the filter."

Following Kotori's words, the dim bridge immediately brightened. Nonetheless, it was not that the lights had been turned on. If anything, it was like a dark curtain that covered the ceiling had been suddenly removed. In fact, the blue sky spread out around us.

"Where we currently are is 15000 meters above Tenguu City. In terms of location, it coincidentally ended up being right around the family restaurant we were planning to meet at."

Kinda remind me of when I was on Great Red's back. Except this ship isn't a living thing. At least, I hope it's not. I don't want it to be like Event Horizon. I can defeat a lot of things in this world. Elderith Abomination is a whole different matter, however. You can't fight something that doesn't have the concept of "defeat" and can drive you insane just from a look. It's like how you can't a storm. Since I don't have a giant mecha, I will just find somewhere to hide when a storm comes.

"To think that this place would be found from the tracking device of a cell phone, we completely overlooked that. We let our guard down after applying Invisible and Avoid using the Realizer. We must come up with some counter-measures later." Kotori placed her hand on her chin and muttered those words.

"What do you mean?" I thought the first thing to do when you construct an invisible airship is prevent it from being tracked. The creator must have underestimated the power of cell phone.

"Ahh, don't worry about it. I didn't expect you to follow that anyways, Shidou. After all, you have a brain that would lose to a horsehair crab's in terms of price per gram."

I have absolutely no idea what did she mean by that.

"Commander. Crab miso isn't made with brain but with guts." Another insane logic is heard. It came from the vice-comannder of this place.

Kotori moved her fingers, beckoning for him to come, and Kannazuki-san gave a light bow.

And then, *pa*, the stick from the lollipop that she finished was blown towards his eyes.

"Nuaaaaghh!"

Clutching his eye, Kannazuki-san tumbled backwards.

"Hey, are you alright?" I raised my voice in concern.

Kannazuki-san, who fell onto the floor, pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and with an ecstatic expression, calmly wrapped it around the lollipop stick that Kotori had just shot at him.

"Sorry, did I cause you to worry? I'm fine, this is a reward in our line of work!" He then stood straight up. He came back to where he was and gave Kotori a replacement candy.

Yeah, what a good reward for a masochist. Hope you can be happy with it in hell.

**"That sister of your sure have a great personality huh."** Enki just has to make everything worse for my mind. **"And she manage to gain some interesting followers. I must admit, I'm impressed."**

Just go back to sleep already.

**"Man, what a good way to talk with your friend."**

He's so separated from reality that he can't even realize the most obvious thing: We are NOT friends.

"Another thing, what is with those swords?" Without a single concern for her subordinate, Kotori turned her eyes back to the screen. It's showing me stopping both the strange girl and Tobiichi. Wow, I look really cool. Sadly, I don't think my sister has the same thought.

"They are... toys." I can't exactly say they are weapons created by God, can I?

"Don't lie! No toys can stop an Angel or [No Pain]."

"They are very good toys." I scratched the back of my head. So that broadsword is an angel. Wonder which anger is it? Hope it's not Samael. My body can still feel the pain from last time. And the laser blade is No Pain? Guess you won't feel pain when you die from just one hit.

"So, back on topic. AST. That's a unit specialized for Spirits."

While speaking, Kotori pointed to a group of people that were shown on the screen. They all wear the same kind of armor as the one Tobiichi wears. Actually, Tobiichi is on the screen too. The more I look at her, the more I'm reminded of Nagato.

"AST, uh... Anti Spirit Team?" I asked. I thought that was the case since they were equipped with weapons and were fighting a Spirit.

"Oh, you're smarter than you look." I think in Kotori mind, I have become slighty smarter than a pig. "You're right, when a Spirit appears. The AST will come and exterminate them."

I don't know whether I should agree or disagree with those guys. On one hand, they are doing what any sane person would do, taking care of the threat before they can do anything destructive. On the other hand, I think they are jumping the gun too soon. A peaceful mean is more preferable in this situation, that's what Sirzechs-san would say. It's more practical too. I don't see the AST does any damages to the Spirit and she's probably one of the weak ones. All that they achieve is angering the Spirit. I won't be surprised if the Spirit decides to wipe out humanity because the AST won't leave them alone.

"Then, who are you guys?" I folded my arms. "You're definitely not the AST."

I don't think these guys can fight against a turtle, let alone a Spirit.

"We are [Ratatoskr]. We are an organization created for the purpose of resolving the spacequakes without killing the Spirits, through conversation."

The commander sure isn't a good example for peaceful conversation.

"Talking isn't everything, right?" Everyone nodded. "So what's your method?"

"About that." A small smile floated on Kotori's face. "Make the Spirit—fall in love."

Now that's simple. I just need to act like a Casanova and buy them roses, that's al...

"What?" I frowned. Making them fall in love? Are you trying to make my life worse? "What will that do?"

Kotori placed a single finger on her chin and with an "mmmm" made a thinking gesture.

"If we want a solution to the spacequakes without using force, then we have to persuade the Spirit right?"

"That seems right."

"For that, wouldn't it be quickest to make the Spirit come to like this world? Oh, this world is so wonderful~, if they become like that, then even a Spirit wouldn't randomly go on a rampage."

"I see."

"Thus, well, isn't it often said? That if you fall in love then the entire world seems beautiful. —And so, date her, and make the Spirit fall for you!"

"No, there's something wrong with that logic." I don't remember taking my sister to school so she can learn how to create insane troll logic.

I then turned to Azazel who is chuckling. "How about you explain to me the real reason already?"

"Oh, you two know each other?" Kotori made a confused face.

"That's private matter." I made some signals using my hands to Azazel. He seems to have understood what I meant.

"According to my and few others research." He folded his arms. "It's possible to seal a Spirit's power. Thus, we will be able to prevent them from returning to their world then end up here and causing the spacequake. To do so, you must make the spirit's affection for you to be at its maximum. Any lower and it will fail."

"Why me? There is a lot of guys who is far more fit than me?" I mean, I think Issei's far better at this than me. Or maybe Yuuto, he will succeed in a few mintues max. I'm not a Casanova, I can't make someone fall in love with me. I don't even have a girl friend.

"Unfortunately, you're the only one who can."

"Care to tell me the reason?"

Azazel shook his head. Everyone here is hiding something. No, maybe it's just the ones in charge. I don't like this. I can't work with someone if they won't tell me everything. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like I have much choices. The alternates are way too risky.

"All you need to know [Ratatoskr] was born for your sake, Kyon." Kotori declared, the lolipop is still in her mouth.

There's really no other options huh?

"Fine, I will do what you say for now." I scratched the back of my head. My mind is trying to ignore the bad feeling I'm getting. "What do I need to do?"

"We will contact you when a Spirit appears." The vice commander, Kannazuki-san told me.

"As for the rest, we will tell you tomorrow." Kotori added.

"Okay then, send me back home already."

Our meeting ended at that point. Reine-san guided me back to the room where I appeared in. She told me the room contains a transportation device. You know, like what you see in Star Trek. I asked Kotori if she will come with me but she said she has something to do. When I entered the room, I immediately found myself back home. I was alone, Kuroka must have left already. On the counter was some food. There was a note on it. On it is Kuroka's handwriting.

"Sorry for leaving without warnings. There is dinner beside the note. Enjoy -nya."

I hope she will be gone for a long time. Seeing it's already quite late, I ate dinner. Kuroka was kind enough to separate my portion and Kotori's. The food were as good as ever. After finishing eating, I went to my room. The stare helped me realize I wasn't alone. On the bed, there was Ophis. She has changed back to her black dress.

"Is Kotori okay?" She asked with the same monotone voice.

"She's fine." In a way, I guess. "She will come home later."

"I see." She suddenly came close to me. I didn't even hear a sound. Did she teleport? "You're making a worried face. Did something happen?"

There are too many to tell. "No, nothing happen. Everything is fine. Just go back to your room."

She refused to move away at first but soon she complied. "Alright, tell me if anything happen. I want to help."

"You're just a shadow of your former selves." I reminded her of her situation. "You just rest. I will take care of it."

"You won't be able to do it all."

I will think something else when it comes to that.

I thought about doing my homework but the bed was beckoning me to come to it. Sadly, I wasn't strong enough to resist. It took only a minute before I fell into deep slumber. I should have expected it. What happened today has taken a toll on both my mind and body. I haven't felt this tired since I first saw my Sacred Gear. I can only hope that everything will get better and not worse.

Naturally, fate decided to do the second one.

* * *

—It's been a while.

In my head, a voice that I've heard somewhere before echoed.

—Finally, finally we meet again, ×××.

A voice filled with nostalgia, with warmth.

—I'm glad, but, just a little longer. Wait just a little longer.

Who are you, I asked, but there was no answer.

—I won't leave you again. I definitely won't make a mistake again. That's why...

There, the mysterious voice was cut off.

* * *

School's just the same as ever. Despite all the discoveries of yesterday, there wasn't much changes in my daily life. It's probably because I'm used to it. There's nothing to be tensed about. A Spirit can only appear by causing a spacequake. A spacequake will cause to the alarm to trigger so I will know when to prepare. Beside, those guys in Ratatoskr will tell me if a Spirit appears. In the morning before coming to school, Kotori said she will prepare me to deal with the Spirit. She called it "training" but I highly doubt I would like it more than Nagato's. Talking about Nagato, I wonder how the others are. I guess I should call them sometimes.

"Yesterday, why were you at such a place?"

I will have to leave it for later, however. Right now, I will have to deal with my stalker, Origami Tobiichi. A few minutes ago, she forcefully dragged me away from class. I was sleepy at that time so I couldn't resist. The whole experience reminded of when Haruhi does the same thing. Except, Tobiichi is much kinder. We eventually stopped at the stair leading to the rooftop. Tobiich is standing in front of the locked door. Her eyes are staring straight at me. She oblivious won't like it if I lie. I'm not a very good liar as well so I should scratch that plan.

"There were some... complicated reasons." She is obviously displeased at my question but I don't want to correct it. "So you really were there, fighting that girl?"

"Yes." She nodded at my question. "Don't tell anyone." She added with a stern voice. I don't want to know what will happen if I don't do what she said. The scene from yesterday gives me some hints and they are not good ones. I should be careful in choosing my words. I don't want her to know about Ratatoskr. I have a feeling her organization doesn't like Kotori's, given their difference in methods.

"Don't worry, nobody would believe me if I told them." Pretty much all of my life can't be told to anyone lest I got myself a one-way ticket to a mental hospital.

"I think it's much better if you forget it all." Clutching her arm, Tobiichi told me. Yes, that's the best option. For a normal guy, anyway.

"Uh,... I forgot. Sorry for doing that to you." Even if it gave me times to get away, I really shouldn't have done that. I need to have more self-controls.

Tobiichi was confused for a few seconds then her face turned red. She turned her face away from me. "It's fine."

This is maybe just idiocy speaking but I think she is... happy. This girl, something tells me I shouldn't get too close to her or I will have to face something much worse than Kuroka.

"Also, what were those swords?" She asked a very troublesome question. "You used them to fight against that Spirit."

"Spirit?" I pretended to be confused. Partly because I want to know what does Tobiichi think of her. Partly because I don't want to answer her question. "You mean,... that girl? The one wearing strange clothes?" Well, everyone beside me was wearing strange clothes at that time but I think Tobiichi gets my point. It's isn't difficult to know who was the strangest one there.

"That was a Spirit." A short reply yet so full of hatred. You wouldn't realize it without experience, however. Glad that I have honed my skill from hanging out with Nagato. "It's something that I must defeat."

"Why?"

When she heard my question, it was slight, but I'm sure she bit her lips.

"—My parents, passed away 5 years ago, because of a spirit." She looked down, most likely to hide her sad expression. "I don't want there to be more people like me."

I guess I should have expected this. Kotori mentioned that the JGSDF recruits girls who lost their parents because of the spacequake. It's a bad decision, if you ask me. There's a high chance they will go berserk against a Spirit. Also, they are all child soldiers! And girls!. Issei won't like this, I'm sure of it. The moment he found out, he will give the one in charge a very hellish experience and he won't be alone. The others won't tolerate it as well. Even Vali would be mad (Though, I think he would want to test the girls and Spirit's strength after he's done).

"I see." I turned away. "Sorry for reminding you about it."

"It's alright."

"I think we should end it here. Is it alright?" I don't want to prolong this conversation any longer. I turned around and prepared to leave.

"Remember not to tell anyone." She reminded me.

"I will." I don't want to go to jail or worse.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from under stair. Wearing a business suit with a grind on his face, he waved at me.

"Oh, Kyon-kun. I need to tell you something." Before my question came out, he gave a signal for me to be quiet. I complied and followed him down, leaving a confused Tobiichi behind. As we walked, I stood beside him.

"What are you doing here, Azazel?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" He gave a big smile. "I am a teacher here."

That doesn't make me feel good at all. I wonder why.

"What about your job at Kuoh Academy?" Well, he wasn't really a good teacher there so I don't think him leaving will damage the school much.

"Don't worry." He spoke in a care-free voice. "Do you remember about that clone incident?"

Of course, I remember. It was back in the previous year, Azazel tested his new machine at that time on Issei. The result was 300 Issei clones running around, destroying girls' clothes. I had one tiring day dealing with them. Even worse, I was forced to help the others with their crazy plans. It was horrifying day. In the end, Issei was the one who had it worst. He was punished by the girls since Azazel couldn't fully removed their memories. Something tell me that he intentionally left ther memories like that. Issei spent three days at home after that to recover. That should tell you how bad it was.

"What about it?"

"I have managed to fix the machine's problems." He declared with pride. "Now, I can create a fully functional clone with all of my memories. It's only one but it's still a success."

Your "success" always gets me into somekind of trouble.

"So you used it to be at two places at the same time?"

"Yes. Brilliant, isn't it?"

Not really. It's the obvious way to use that machine.

"What did you call me for?"

"That.. well..." The evil grin came back to his face. "Your "training" is about to start."

Every of the alarms in my head have just been triggered.

* * *

Okay, I know you must hate me for skipping all of that "training" but trust me, you don't want to know all the details. It was horrifying. I have never felt so humiliated. I was forced to play dating sim. That wasn't a bad thing. The first bad thing was: Every of those games were not good ones. The second bad thing was: If I make a single wrong choice, Kotori will reveal an embarrassing secret about me to everyone in school. I felt like I was dealing with Haruhi which meant I was sweating all the way to the end.

Fortunately, I have experience when it came to dating sim and I have learned several important lessons from the King Of Conquest so I was able to survive. Even Kotori was impressed that I didn't choose a single wrong choice. I couldn't believe it myself, actually. Eventually, I got fed up. However, if I screamed, Kotori would just start insulting me. My solution was to ask for practical experience. Believe me, it was much better than playing those games. Kotori agreed and I began my second "training". For some reasons, I think Azazel was expecting for it. If that's true, I will make sure he will stay at a hospital for a long time.

The first subject was my teacher, Okamine Tamae or Tama-chan. I was blackmailed into doing it, I assure you. No one in their right mind would do something like that. Especially when they are student. The whole thing was a disaster. Somehow, Reine-san thought it would be a good idea to ask about marriage. Then, I found out that Tamae-san was a single near her 30 which mean that she's desperate. She acted like I was a godsend to her. I have to run the hell away due to the embarasshment. I really regret choosing to do practical training now.

My running got me into the second problem of the day. Just like in a romance manga, I bumped into Tobiichi when I turned around a corner. We both fell down to the ground. When I regained my composure and moved to help her, I realized something.

Her legs spreaded in the letter M.

The object between her legs was in my vision. It's white.

The sight caused me to averted my eyes.

"What's wrong?" Tobiichi asked after she stood up.

"It's nothing." I replied as I watched her wiping off the dust. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

_"Kyon, this is perfect. Let's continue our training with her." _A voice rang inside my ear. It's my sister, Kotori. She's talking to me through a special device in my ear which was given to me this morning.

Can you tell me the reason?

"_It's probably best if we could obtain some data on someone in the same generation, instead of a teacher. Also, though she isn't a Spirit, she is an important member of the AST. Don't you think she'll be a pretty good reference? As far as I can tell, she doesn't seem to be the type to spread rumors around either._"

I know it, they are messing with me.

"_Don't you want to talk to the Spirits?_"

My mind isn't bright enough to see the connection between this and that.

_"Just do it!"_

Why do I always have to deal with bossy girl?

"Ah, Tobiichi. I want to ask you something." I asked after taking a deep breath.

"What is it?"

"Do you have anyone you like? Like a boyfriend?"

"Yes."

Okay, mission failed. Let go home and forget all about this.

_"You idiot!"_ Kotori practically screamed into my ears._ "Ask her who is it. Don't give up like that."_

I can give up whenever I want!

"May I ask who?" Damn it, I'm really weak against girl.

Tobiichi didn't answer me. She only raised a finger. From the direction, I think it's pointing at someone behind me. No, there's no one there. Wait, don't tell me...

"You're not saying it's... me, right?" I pointed at myself.

Tobiichi nodded. Just great.

"Ah,... thanks." This is kinda awkward.

_"That's... unexpected."_ Even Kotori is surprised at the development. I can hear Azazel chuckling. Sure is funny huh.

"Then... uh,... do you want to go out?" I suddenly felt a chill. It's like someone is thinking about killing me. Not just one person... Must be my imagination.

"Yes."

You were supposed to say "no".

"I see." I don't know what to do next. Maybe I should ask her more questions. No, I got a feeling that I won't like to find out more than necessary. I don't want to be driven mad by the truth. "Just to make sure, you meant dating, right?"

"That's correct."

This girl needs to have more self-control.

Then there was only silence. I wasn't able to think of anything else to say. Kotori and the others gave me some suggestions but I think it will be more beneficial for my sanity if I refuse to listen. Then, without warning,...

UUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu—

The alarm echoed. At almost the same instant, Origami raised her face slightly.

"—An emergency. See you."

Saying that, she turned heel and ran down the hallway. I wasn't able to say anything to her.

"Kotori, a Spirit has appeared, right?" I whispered to my sister.

"Yes. For now, return to_Fraxinus at once."_

"Can you tell me where's that Spirit will appear?"

After a beat, Kotori answered. It was the worst one.

"_Yes. The predicted location where it will appear is—Raizen High School._"

This sure is turning out to be a great day.


	3. Chapter 3

So, it has began. The first time for my... role in dealing with the Spirit problem. Saying that I was nervous would be an understatement. I felt like a giant rock had been put on my back and both of my hands were tied to it. I was so sweating so much I think it could fill an entire bucket. My mind tried to formulate a plan. Supposedly, that's Kotori and her subordinates' job but after their introduction, I was really worried about their usefulness. For an organization tasked with creating love between Spirit and human, they sure got a lot of members with horrible romance experience. I was surprised they managed to survive for so long.

I'm was walking along the hallway in the school. Well, it WAS a hallway. The spacequake had damaged it almost beyond recognition. Surrounding me were a pile of rubbles and broken glasses. It took a lot of effort to not make a sound. I didn't want the Spirit to blow up the whole place because she heard suspicious noises. Fortunately for me, one of the biggest annoyances wouldn't be able to participate. Kotori told me that the AST's equipments don't work effectively indoor so they had to stay outside. This allowed me time to talk with the Spirit. Actually, it wouldn't be much. If the AST received an order, they would gladly charge in, gun blazing. I needed to be fast. Of course, that presented new problems which I would have to find solutions for. My hopes that this would turn out well were disappearing one by one as I got closer to a ruined classroom. Conveniently, it was my classroom. So convenient that I thought God was screwing with me which was most likely correct, considering who she is.

Standing before the closed door, I tapped on the device in my ear.

"Kotori, is this the place?" I asked as my hand grabbed the handle.

_"Yes, the Spirit is definitely in there."_ Kotori had a serious voice._ "You should know what to do already so..."_ She took a deep breath._ "Let our date begin."_

More like an unwinable battle.

_"Just go in!"_

Sigh, not even a "be careful". I could only laugh at what a miserable brother I am. I decided to use an effective way to remain calm: Remembering good memories. Unfortunately, there wasn't much so I was still tense. I have faced against gods, devils and heroes. I have dealt against the God and faced the end of the world several times. I even almost got killed a lot. I shouldn't have been so tense. I knew the reason, of course. This was a new experience. All of my previous fights didn't involve me trying to seduce someone (And I sincerely hoped I wouldn't have to do it again). Just like a student when test came, my mind just couldn't calm down. The fact I could be killed only made it worse.

Realizing whatever I was trying to do to calm down was useless, I chose to bite the bullet and opened the door. My mouth spoke out some words so the Spirit would know that I was there.

"Sorry for the intrusion." I said in an awkward voice. Not just my voice, even the simple action of opening the door was awkward. I held my head down and scratched the back of my head. In my ear, the device emitted a noticeable sigh. It probably came from Kotori thinking how pathetic her brother was. The worst thing was, she wasn't that wrong.

No respond. The second person in the room only turned around. With the sun behind her, she looked just like a princess. Her outfit was still the same as when I fist saw her. It was so out of place. Especially with all the broken tables and chairs around her. Out of the big hole on the wall behind her, I could see several figures. They were all girls. Most likely the AST. If so, there's a high chance Tobiichi was among them. They weren't a big problem so I averted my eyes. I looked back the amor-wearing girl. The familiar broadsword was in her hand. She was sitting on a desk with one knee raised. The fourth row from the front, the second column from the windows. In other word, my desk. Haruhi, you really love to mess with me, do you?

Silence covered the place. Several minutes passed without us doing anything. We just stared at each other. She looked at me with caution while I was too nervous to think of my next words.

_"What are you standing there for? Get moving already!"_ Kotori screamed into my ear. Because of her words, my legs instinctively moved themselves up. At the same time, a ball of energy appeared in the girl's hand. It had the same color as her hair. Without any warnings, she swiped the air. The ball turned into a blast of energy. It came straight at me. I wasn't fazed by it. With a click of my finger, a shield appeared and blocked the attack. Normally, this would be a bad decision since I didn't want Kotori to know too much about me. However, Azazel told me he has altered the camera used to see what I'm doing so I could use my power freely. I didn't how he did it and I didn't particularly care. Azazel's mad scientist, that can't be denied. So someting like this is easy for him.

In case you're curious, the camera was behind me. It was in the form of a mosquito. A pretty clever way to hide it. It's quicker than you think so even if someone see it, they will never be able to squat it down. Advanced technologies seem to be more common these days. I heard such things were possible because of the Spirit's appearance in this world. The Realizer, a powerful piece of technology that makes things that are normally impossible, is the most basic one. From it, many more impossible devices were born. Most likely that airship is on the list as well. There are two companies specialize in it: the DEM and the Asgard Company. If you ask me, I don't trust any of them.

"Let not start a conversation like this." Putting my shield away, I raised my hands up. The Spirit had a surprised look for a second before staring at me dangerously again.

"_From what I can see, she's not preparing to attack. If she wanted to, it should've been easy to blast the wall away along with Kyon. —On the other hand wasting time and annoying her is not good. Let's go in._"

You are really good at pointing out the obvious, little sister.

"Who are you?" The Spirit spoke out her first words. It seemed like she has short memory-span. Then again, I didn't make myself too noticeable. "Are you here to kill me?"

Funny, I think I just got a deja vu.

At this time, the Fraxinus should be thinking about what I should say. Just like in a dating sim, a list of options would appear and everyone would start voting. Not just people on the ship but pretty half of the world's population. Taniguchi is included, by the way.

"Have you guys finished yet?" I whispered to them.

"Yes, we will use option three: **"Before asking for someone's name, state your own first."**

Alright, let do this.

"I'm just a student here, I don't mean any harm." I raised my hands higher. At the same time, I could hear everyone on the Fraxinus face faulting. I sure hope they aren't in pain much. The floor is quite hard, after all. In fact, I don't see any reasons why they did it. Seems kinda stupid to me.

_"What the hell are you doing!?"_ Kotori asked with an annoyed voice. _"You were supposed to use option three!"_

My death wish wasn't strong enough for me to say it, sorry.

"—Stay like that. Currently, you are within my attack range." With suspicious eyes, the girl dismounted from.

Maybe I should have mentioned to her that she's in mine as well.

The girl came to me slowly. She was being too suspicious but I couldn't blame her. I would have done the same thing if I were her. I stood still, signalling that I meant what I said. When she came close to my face, she lightly bended her waist and looked at me. Our eyes were in front of each other.

"Hey, haven't we met once before...?" She raised her eyebrows.

"I think it was just a few days ago." I told her what I remembered. "We met each other in the town."

"Ohh." She lightly hit her hand. "I remember now. You're the one that said some kind of weird thing."

I'm horrified that is all you remember of me.

"Weird thing?" I honestly couldn't understand what she meant. My mind went back to that day... No, I didn't remember saying anything weird. Although, it's not like our minds think the same.

"...If I recall, you said that you had no intention to kill me? Hmph— I've seen through that. Tell me, what are you after. Are you planning to attack me from behind after loosening my guard?" She pointed the sword at me again. "Are you going use those swords again?"

Trust me, miss. I don't need you to loosen your guard. I could kill you right here, right now.

"I told you once and I will tell you again so please believe me this once." I raised my voice. "I'm not trying to kill you and I will never think of something so stupid even if my life is at stake!"

This girl is too suspicous for her own good.

"Also,..." I continued. "Not all human are like those girls over there." My eyes turned to the AST outside. The Spirit followed my eyes for a moment then turned back to me. It's maybe just me but I think she understood me.

"If you're not trying to kill me, what's your intention?" She asked.

"Before that,..." I changed the topic. "Can I ask for your name?"

"I have... no such thing." Her voice was sad. This girl, she's more lost than I thought. She must have amnesia. Of course, I couldn't continue calling her Spirit. It would be rude.

"So what can I call you?"

"I... don't know."

"Maybe I can think of one for you?"

"Would you?"

"Yeah, just give me a second."

I needed a name. This is your time to shine, Ratatoskr. Don't disappoint me.

_"Tome."_ After some minutes of thinking, Kotori muttered a word. I would take it as her suggestion for the name.

"Tohka, I will call you Tohka." Once again, my mission controls did a facefault. "Is that alright?"

_"Are you messing with me, Kyon!?"_

I'm sorry to all Tome in this world, it's just not a name for girls anymore. Also, just to tell you, there's a reason of my choosing of Tohka. I won't tell you, however. You can figure out by yourself.

_"Hey, answer me!"_

I ignored my little sister and stared at the girl. She was thinking deeply. She placed her arm under her chin. I wonder why but she looked quite cute doing so. It was probably just me being and idiot again. Then, she trotted towards me.

"T-Tohka,..." She repeated the word like a child learning how to read. "How do you write it?" She looked at me with curious eyes.

"Ah, it's like this." I moved toward the blackboard. Strangely, it was in useable condition, unlike everything else. With a chalk in hand, I wrote the word. The girl copied me but she traced her finger instead. Eventually, another word similar to me but in a cruder style appeared on the board.

"Tohka." She repeated the world some more. Her voice became more happy each time she said it. Then a smile appeared on her face. It was the first time I saw her smile. The scene made me lose focus for a second. "Tohka. It's my name. Isn't it marvelous?"

"Ah,... sure." I was too stunned to say anything else. Why did she have to be so cute? Also, the name wasn't that marvelous, was it?

"So what's your?" She asked suddenly. It took me some times to realize what she meant. "It isn't fair that I'm the only one who got a name."

Those words can cause some bad misunderstandings.

In spite of that, I was happy. This was the perfect chance to say my real name. It has been forgotten for so long. Now, it could finally be freed from its prison.

"My name is..." I happily replied.

"It's too hard to say. Can I call you Kyon instead?"

Immediately, I dropped my shoulders in defeat. The world was just too cruel. I finally had the opportunity but it didn't work. Just like every other times, I was unable to stop that terrifying virus. Someone, please save me from this hell.

"Do what you want." I rubbed my forehead.

"Okay, Kyon." She nodded her head. "Now, let return to my previous question. Why are you here?"

_"This is it. Don't mess this up, Kyon!"_

The only way I could mess this up is by listening to you and your people's advises, Kotori.

"I'm here to talk. Nothing more." Well, there was more than that but I didn't think she need to know yet.

"Don't lie!" The sword's tip was before my face once more. "All human deny my existence. You're just the same, right."

Giving someone a name sure is a nice way to deny their existence huh. That's new.

"I don't what those people did to you before this but I'm not like them. Like I told you before, I'm here to talk." I put my hands into my pockets. "Also, I'm not the kind of guy who would deny you."

It was just some simple words. So simple I thing anyone could say it if they want. But they weren't so simple to her. After hearing it, she had a shocked face. Tohka raised her eyebrows, and averted her eyes from me. And then, after a short silence, she opened her mouth with a crack.

"You really won't deny my existence?"

"Yes."

"Really really?"

"Really really."

"Really really really?"

This is getting too annoying.

"Really really and for the last time, really!"

"—Hmpf." Tohka stroked her hair and stood up while letting out what seemed to be a sniffle, turning her face back. "Who are you trying to fool with those words baaka baaka?"

I think you have made a great mistake. I'm not the idiot in this room.

"...But you know, that." While making a complicated expression, Tohka continued. "I don't know what kind of insides you have, but you're the first human that I could have a proper conversation with. ...To get more information about this world you might be of some use."

Now, she's trying to act smart. She can be a very good comedian.

"Anything you need? I will answer all your questions if I know the answers."

"—_Good job. Just continue like that._"

You don't need to tell me.

"But, just try taking a suspicious action. I'll open an air tunnel in your body." Tohka started to slowly circle the classroom in large strides.

"Roger that." I said dryly. "So, what's your question?"

"—Then I'll ask. What exactly is this place? It's the first time I've seen somewhere like this." Saying this, she walked around while poking the toppled desks.

"Well, it's..." I was about to explain when I felt danger. Immediately turning my eyes to the outside, I saw several bullets heading toward us. I dashed pass Tohka and called out my shields. They are all beautifully ornate shields. All of the bullets were stopped by the shields. This is one of my powers: Bab-ilu: Key of the King's Law. Not a part of my Sacred Gear but it did help awaken this power. It allowed me to use all the treasures in this world. As for its strength and weakness, let leave that for later.

"_It looks like an attack from the outside. Probably to try to lure the Spirit out. —Ahh, or maybe it's to make the school building collapse, and thus getting rid of places where the Spirit could hide._"

From Kotori's words, it seemed my time has ran out. Either that or they just wanted to ruin the atmosphere. For some reasons, I think the second one is more likely. Maybe I'm being too genre savvy. I will have to be careful not be like that girl. What was her name again? Ajimu something... Wait, this isn't the time for that. I'm under attacked, for god's sake.

"Tohka, stay behind m..." My words were stopped by a figure passing me. It was Tohka. She was then in front of me again. Surrounding her was a the same barrier she used last time. Uncaring of the rapid attacks, Tohka turned to look at me.

"Hurry up and escape, Kyon. If you stay with me, you'll be hit by your fellow humans."

I find that to be unlikely.

"_There are two choices. To run, or to stay._"

You're wrong, Kotori. There's one more option.

_"What?"_

I reached my hand out to Tohka. "Hey, grab my hand."

"What for?" She made a confused face.

"I'm going to get you of here." I continued without allowing her the chance to protest. "Just trust me, okay?"

She was hesitant but soon, her hand came closer to mine. "O-okay."

I grabbed her hand tightly. "Hang on, this can make you dizzy."

Let hope Azazel is good as he said.

Immediately, both of us disappeared. At least, that's what everyone else would say. In reality, we moved at extremely high speed. I brought Tohka along. She had some troubles at first but she soon got used to it. Guess it was because she isn't a normal human. We ran for some minutes before completely exiting the school. To make sure, we ran some more. Finally, we reached a park. I let go of Tohka's hand after that.

"I... think... this... should... be... enough." I breathed heavily. I hadn't done this for a long time so it was kinda tiring. I could see the school in the distance. It was being demolished by the AST. There was no need to worry, however. It would just be fixed by tomorrow. I looked around, there was no one else beside us. It was the same when we ran through the street. Everyone must still be in the shelter. I must be really stupid to be standing outside like this.

_"Kyon, I need an explanation for this."_

Look like it was too much for Azazel, after all.

"Let talk about that later." I whispered to Kotori.

I turned to look Tohka. She was looking at the scenery. Then she looked straight at me. "Kyon, are you sure you are human?"

"That depends on perspective." I stretched my arms. "I like to consider myself to be human..." It's the only way to stay sane these days. "So yeah, I'm human."

"I see." She folded her arms. "Why did you bring me here?"

"It was too difficult to talk back then." I pointed at the direction of the school. "I think this place would be much better."

"I see your point." She looked down at the ground.

"Let sit down, shall we?" I took a seat on the ground. Tohka did the same after checking that there was no trap. "Now then, let start from your previous question..."

We talked. Our conversation lasted for quite long, actually. It was mostly just some meaningless stuffs but I supposed Tohka didn't think so. She was really curious about this world. I explained to her all I could, starting from what school is. The topic constantly changed. Tohka really didn't know anything. I did notice that she was very interested when I talked about food. I thought she was drooling for a moment. Unfortunately, when I looked at the sky again, I realized it had gotten dark. I stood up. Tohka was confused by my action.

"Let stop our talk here."

"Why?"

"It has gotten dark. Beside, I think you're about to go as well."

Tohka followed my eyes and realized what I meant. Tohka's body was... disappearing. She looked back at me with sad eyes.

"It's too bad. I want to talk more."

"Let continue our talk next time. Also,..." My next words just couldn't come out.

"What is it?"

My mouth opened and closed repeatedly. It was too difficult. Tohka tilted her head. She was really confused by my action.

"_Da●te_"

"_Da●te_"

"_Da●te_"

I'm going to kill all of them after this.

"Let go out on a date next time!" My face must be as red as a tomato now.

"What's a..."

And then, she was gone. She couldn't even finish her question. God damn it, now I have a date to think of. Why can't I have a vacation?

I then went home. I had left the mosquito camera and intercom back in the Fraxinus. The moment I closed the door,...

"Thou always have such strange companion." A familiar voice. It came from my shadow. A girl had emerged from it. She wore a loose dress and a pair of sandals. She was smiling at me. There was hint of amusement on her face.

"I will never be able to escape from this terrible luck of mine, Shinobu." I rubbed my forehead.

"Ka ka ka!" She gave out her signature laugh. "Thou's luck could be comparable to an insect's, my master."

She would never drop that superior tone of her. Even though she said I'm her master, I think the reverse held more truth. This smiling girl loved to make big impression on others. Everytime I see her, I alway think about the day we first met each other.

Shinobu Oshino.

She wasn't alway called by that name. She was originally Kiss-Shot Acerola-Orion Heart-Under-Blade (Yeah, I know, her naming sense sucks. Don't say it out loud, however). She was a vampire with immense power. Powerful enough that her disappearance caused quite a stir among the vampire faction. She was also someone important to me. Not in a good way, though.

After all, she was one of the person who killed me. Looking at her only help me remember how horrible it was.

Also, I always get reminded of Haruhi when I talk to her. I guess it's maybe because they are similar to each other. Not just her voice but personality as well. In fact, you could say Shinobu is an older Haruhi even if she looks younger.

"I dislike how the human call those girls Spirit." She folded her arms. She was displeased. "They would never be a match for the real spirit."

The real spirit is one of the oddities, or "Kai'i" if you want more details, of this world. The "Kai'i" are different from the three factions and gods, though some of them are gods. Unlike the others who have alway existed, the "Kai'i" were born from human's belief. They are defined by human. Vampire is one of them. I have met them before. I have fought against them. They did cause some trouble for me.

As a side note, even though they are maybe similar to Mononoke, don't mistake those two. You would just anger a certain medicine seller. You really don't want to meet his sword. Trust me, you really don't.

"Don't blame them too much." I told her. "They don't know about the other spirit. And I don't want them to find out."

"So what would thy do now, my master?" Still with the same haughty voice, she said. "Would thy do like what thy sister said?"

"I don't have much options now, do I?" I shrugged my shoulders. "I can't let someone like that roam around without any mean to contain them."

"Thy would only brought misfortune on thyself." Her smile became even bigger. "But that isn't surprising, considering how thy are."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Ka ka ka!" I sometime thought about why I just can't get annoyed by her personality. She's obviously someone you would hate just by hearing. Though, I suppose that is her goal. "Thy are always so stupid." Her figure slowly descended back to my shadow. "I will see how this will play out."

And then, she fully disappeared. I let out a big sigh. This day was just too much for me.

* * *

_POV switch,_

Tobiichi is in love with Kyon, that much is certain. She's so in love, in fact, she is willing to do anything for her. You could say she's devoted to him. You could also she's a shameless person. She would gladly admit she loved to stalk Kyon if she believed that would her love. Her passion is so strong that her love for Kyon is one of the thing that defines her.

The other that defines her is her hatred for Spirit. You can't blame her, however. A Spirit took away her parents. She still has nightmares about her parents' death. There's nothing more happy for her than seeing a Spirit being killed mercilessly. Especially when she's the one who do it. And especially if it is the one who killed her parents. The Spirit who uses fire, that's her greatest enemy. She still hasn't realized the one she wants to kill the most is closer than she thinks.

Her hatred for the Spirit and love for Kyon is the reason why she's pissed right now. Her important conversation with Kyon was interrupted by a Spirit. Next, she found out that Spirit has hidden herself in the school so Tobiichi couldn't deal with her. Then, she saw that Kyon was with the Spirit. Naturally, she came up with the conclusion that the Spirit was using Kyon as a hostage. To add one more insult, both the Spirit and Kyon have disappeared without a trace so she doesn't know whether Kyon is fine or not. Saying this is a bad day for Tobiichi would be an understatement.

"We have lost sight of the Princess." An older woman wearing the same wiring suit as Tobiichi's spoke. In her hand is a giant gatling gun. "Let go back to the base. We can't do anything now."

The woman looked back at the school. It has been completely destroyed by the countless bullets which are scattered on the ground. _The report is going to be a pain_, she thought. She sighed then turned to fly away. Many girls wearing the same suit as her also started flying away. When she flew for several minutes, she realized something. Tobiichi didn't move. She just stood there. Her hands grabbed the gun tightly. With another sigh, the woman came close to Tobiichi.

"Even if you keep staring at it, the Princess won't come back." The older woman said, knowing that it won't do any good. She knows how stubborn Tobiichi can be when it comes to Spirit. Still, she has to try. Someone has to knock some senses into Tobiichi, even if it's fulile.

Tobiichi didn't say anything. She quietly moved away. In her head, she kept thinking how one day, she would get her revenge, even if it will kill her. Even if she died, the flame Spirit will die with her.

* * *

I was surrounded by flame. I think it was my house. I didn't know for sure. Around me were nothing more than rubbles and broken objects. I felt weak. I was on the floor. I didn't know what happen. Everything was too blurry. Flames were everywhere, that was what I can be certain of. I moved myself up. It was useless. Gravity just brought me back down again. I was too exhausted to do anything. My body had scratches all over it. Where's this place? What is going on? Why am I here? Confusion was my strongest emotion at that time.

Then I heard crying, it was a familiar sound. Moving my face up, I saw a figure in the distance. She was on her knees. Her hands was covering her face but I knew who she was.

My sister.

She was there. She was crying. I reached out my hand. I pushed my body forward. My was only concentrating on one thing: Saving my sister. I didn't know what kind of danger she was in but I was certain of what I was doing. I felt pain. My body was being pushed beyond its limit. If I kept trying, I would die. I didn't care. My sister needed me and I would make sure I don't disappoint her.

"Onii-chan?" She turned her face to me. The tear was still in her eyes. I tried to call out for her. To let her know I was coming.

I couldn't.

It was just too much for me.

"Onii-chan, onii-chan, onii-chan!" I could hear my sister calling for me as she came over. With each steps, a tear fell from her acorn-like eyes. I tried to push my body forward once more but it was no good. I had ran out of strength. In my mind, I cursed myself for being too weak. I couldn't protect her. I couldn't protect my own sister. I was a failure as a brother.

At that moment, I sensed another presence. Someone else was there beside me and Kotori. I was certain it wasn't our parents. They were still on a trip oversea. No, it was different. It was different from everything I had known about. I looked at it. It was a figure. It looked like something humanoid. That was all I could describe about it. The figure was like a shadow. A phantom-like being. It turned to me. At least, I think it turned to me. A smile formed on it.

Then, I woke up.

* * *

The next day came, I was taking a stroll. School was closed, surprisingly. I supposed the fixers weren't as godly as I thought. The weather was fine and I didn't want to stay home so taking a stroll was the best option. I took another look at the school. The AST sure did a number on it. I could hardly recognize it. If I didn't go to that place everyday, I would have thought it was an abandoned building. I hadn't seen Tohka yet. I honestly didn't know why I was expecting that date. The moment she appeared again, a spacequake would happen and nobody likes spacequake. But I was anxious. This date, if one of those girls knew about it, I would much better off death.

As I thought about the AST's destructive power, a sound came from my pocket. It was my phone. Taking it out, I saw the caller was Azazel. I had asked him to erase everyone on the Fraxinus' memories about my strange powers. I didn't want anyone to start questioning me. He must have called me to report.

"What is it, Azazel?" I placed the phone beside my ear. Judging from the sound, I was sure he wasn't on the ship anymore.

"Oh, good to see you're well, Kyon-kun." His voice was as annoying as always. "I just want to let you know that the memories removing process was a success."

That is a good new.

"But..."

"What is this "but" I'm hearing, Azazel?" I really should have realized that it wouldn't be so easy. I prepared my mind for the incoming bad news.

"It was much more difficult than I thought. There were three persons that have strong resistance against it." Azazel's voice turned serious. He wasn't joking around.

It wasn't as serious as I feared. However, it was still a surprising new. Azazel had confirmed to me the Ratatoskr's members are all human. Coming from a scientist like him, I didn't have any reasons to doubt it. Then again, my definition of "human" was maybe outdated. I had seen what human can do. In fact, I was one of the best examples. The other one would be an old friend of mine but I don't want to tell you about him.

"Who are they?" Even though I asked, I already had a good idea who is it. I just needed to see which one can be an important character in an anime, that's all... Hmm, thinking somehow made me feel like a mental patient, I wonder why.

"Well, they were Reine-chan, Kotori-chan and Kanazuki-kun."

I was correct and yet I didn't feel happy somehow. Maybe it was because my sister is on that list. She's strange enough already. There's no need to add more. I didn't want to find out that my sister had somekind of horrible secret.

"Do you know why?" I asked.

"No idea at the moment." There was a hint of disappointment in his voice. To a scientist like him, being unable to figure out something is a bad thing. "I will call you again when I have some more information."

"By the way, how's the situation with the vampire?"

"The same as ever, they are still demanding to have those two back. They won't give up any times soon."

Ever since Shinobu disappeared, the vampire tried to get back to powerful persons back to their side. The first was Gasper Vladi, a friend of mine and member of Gremory-san's group. He was powerful vampire that had great talents and was the owner of one of the most broken Sacred Gear around. The vampire faction used to peace treaty to get him back but their attempt had been stopped by Gremory-san, at least for now.

The other was Evangeline A.K. McDowell, a Shinso vampire. Originally, she just didn't like to get involved in whatever it was the vampire faction was trying to do. Azazel asked me to get her help. You wouldn't be exaggerating if you said the meeting was a disaster. A very painful disaster, I must add. I still have nightmare of that woman and her doll. That robot girl was the only one I like. My involvement somehow made the other vampires thought that she had switched side. Ever since then, I sometime saw a bunch of frozen vampires outside my home. Weird, huh?

As for Shinobu, the vampire considered her to be missing so I didn't have much problem.

Also, even now, I still can't say who is worse: Shinobu or Evangeline. What do you think?

"I see. It's bad huh?"

"You have no idea." I think Azazel had just shook his head. "Oh, one more thing."

"What?"

"Be careful, the Khaos Brigade is acting up again."

Those guys, even after all of their factions had collapsed, they just wouldn't give up. I have to admit, I respect their determination. It would have been much better, though, had they used it for something more... helpful. As they were, I didn't think they would be able to something that would benefit me. In my mind, I was trying to guess their next plan. The last time they made an attack, they successfully took away 50% of Ophis' power. Most likely, what they are planning now involve that. The three factions have tried to find out where that power is, mostly from interrogating the captured members of the Hero Faction which include Jeanne and some others. It was no good, though. It took a lot of efforts to keep them from committing suicide and they wouldn't talk no matter what. So I guess you could say we were back to where we started: No clues on what we should be expecting.

"I will. Thanks for the warning."

"Okay then. Now, let go back to what I was doing. There are many things to be done."

I hanged up the phone. Then, a big sigh came from me. That mad scientist, he tried to act like he was working but in reality, he was in drinking sake somewhere. I could hear the sound of services. I could also hear the sound of girls. Most likely members of his 1000 harems. Sometimes, I thought about giving him my job. He would be much better at this whole dating thing than me.

"... on..."

I mean, I don't even have a girlfriend. What did they think when they chose me? Okay, I have somekind of special power that can seal a Spirit's power but I'm sure everyone has it. Even if they don't, guys like Issei could take care of this no problem.

"... yon..."

I felt no motivation in doing this. I wanted to help those Spirits but I didn't think this is the way. A second peaceful solution would be nice. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to have that kind of luxury. The god of luck had forever forsaken me.

"Hey, Kyon."

Those thought just kept spinning around my head so I wasn't far from my original position much. I think if anyone saw me, they would think I was lost. I just kept going around in circle. I was unsure of what to do next. Should I go back home? No, I didn't think it was a good idea. Maybe I should call some of my old friends. I was wondering how the girl was, anyway. Her and everyone else. I was just about to dial the phone when...

"...Stop ignoring me!"

The loud voice snapped me back to reality. I turned to the source. It was an unfamiliar voice, one that has made a very big impression from the me. The one it came from was standing behind a sealed road. She stood on a pile of junk. With the sun behind her back, it would take a blind person to not notice her. After all, she still wore those clothes. At least her limited wardrobe was justified.

As for me, I was stunned by her presence. No, it wasn't because of her beauty. I was stunned enough by that when I first met her. No, it wasn't because she was so out of place. I had gotten used to it. It was the same as when I saw her in the classroom and town. I was stunned because of one simple thing.

Her quiet appearance.

There was no sound of alarm. Everyone still walked on the street peacefully. There was no sign that a spackequake would happen. That posed an important question: Why was she there?

"T-Tohka!?" I shouted in shock. I immediately closed my mouth. That was a stupid thing to do. I would just attract everyone's attention. Fortunately, there was no one around us so I was safe. That, however, failed to calm me down. The whole thing was too much for my poor mind. I was at a loss. No words could come out. I only pointed my shaking finger at Tohka.

"So you finally noticed, stu~pid stu~pid."

The girl's face, beautiful enough to send chills down one's spine, was dyed with discontent. She kicked the pile of debris with a *thump*, and approached me along the barley intact asphalt. She also kicked down the 'Do not enter' sign with a grunt, probably because it was in her way, and arrived in front of me. Seeing her face right in front of me, I was certain I wasn't dreaming.

"What... are... you doing here?" With great difficulty, I muttered out those words.

"Even if you ask me why..." Tohka folded her arms and cocked her head to the side. Those actions were enough to make me realize she didn't know about the reason for her quiet appearance. So a Spirit could appear in this world without causing spacequake, that was something new to me. However, I soon changed my thought to something else. A horrifying thought came to me. If Tohka were here, that mean I would have to...

"Aren't you the one who invited me, Kyon? That... on a date."

I was even more lost than earlier. Since this was the first time a Spirit appeared like this, naturally, the Ratatoskr wouldn't know my situation. I even left the communication device back home. My sister was still at school. I had no mean of communicating with the other members. Maybe I could call Azazel? Somehow, I didn't think Tohka would let have the time to.

"—Hmph, whatever. More importantly Kyon, let's get on with that date already. Date date date date."

Tohka kept repeating 'date date' with a unique intonation. She obviously was very excited about this date even if she didn't understand what the word mean. While I do know what it mean, I didn't think about explaining to her. It's more complicated than you think. I decided to just go with the flow.

"Ah, yeah." I gulped down my saliva. "I did promise you that, didn't I?"

"Yes!" She said excitedly. Then she turned her face a little to the left. She looked like she was in deep thought. "Although, I don't know what a "date" is like. What is it, Kyon?"

"I think it would be better to just show you."

"Really?" She looked at me with sparkling eyes.

"But first," I pointed at her clothes. "You need to do something about those."

"What do you mean?"

"Your clothes would attract... unwanted attention." My mind went back to when I brought Kuroka, Le Fay and Ophis to a department store near my house. I didn't want to go out after that. Everyone in the store thought that I'm a sick pervert who forced innocent girls to wear strange clothes. Nobody can blame them, however. It did look like that. Nowadays, the concept of male being the victim no longer exist. I suppose that it's the punishment for our ancestor's mistreatment of women in the old days. One day, I will go back in time and punch the guy who mistreat his girl. I will punch him so hard it will be recorded in history.

I soon snapped out of those thought. I did so because Tohka had turned her face around. Her arms were still folded. I couldn't see her face but I think her face was red. "K-Kyon, don't tell me you want me to... strip here?" She slowly muttered those words.

It took me a few seconds to realize what she meant. The moment I did so, my face became bright red. "No, no, I didn't mean that at all!" I placed my arms on each other to create an "X" sign. "I just want you to change into something more normal."

"Normal?" Tohka tilted her head.

"Ah, normal is like..." I took a look around. "Like what's that girl's wearing." I pointed at the girl who was walking on the other side of the road. She wore my school's uniform. She mustn't have realized that school was closed that day. I almost made the same mistake myself.

"I see. So that's normal huh." Tohka stared at the girl for a moment. Then, something appeared on the tip of her finger. It was a ball of energy. The same as the one she shot at me yesterday. Seeing this, I was alarmed. My suspicions were confirmed when Tohka pointed her finger at the girl. I immediately pushed Tohka's finger away. The shot missed its target and hit the wall, making a loud "bang" which statled the other girl. She looked around for a moment then shrugged her shoulders and walked away. Seeing that she was gone, I sighed in relief. Tohka wasn't as pleased as I was, however.

"What are you doing? You made me miss."

"Far better than I let you hit!" I shouted back at her.

"I was going to stun her and strip off her clothes, but..." Tohka tilted her head as if asking what was wrong with that. A deep sigh came from my stomach. I placed my hand on my forehead. This girl, she was too innocent in a bad way.

"Listen here, Tohka. You can't attack people." I continued without allowing her the chance to protest. "If you do, you will attract the AST. You don't want it, do you?"

Tohka was quiet for the next few seconds. Her eyes looked at me but her mind was still thinking about what I said.

"Also, you shouldn't do things people don't like. Don't you feel annoyed when the AST attacks you?"

"...I understand. I'll keep that in mind." Tohka said in consent. She looked like a child who was being lectured by their parent. In other words, she was unhappy.

Next, she raised her face slightly as if remembering something, and said, "—It can't be helped. I'll have to take care of the clothes myself, somehow."

With a snap of her finger, Tohka's dress began to disappear. Or at least, that would be what happened if you saw from an outside perspective. Soon, particles of light gathered around her, coiling around her body and forming a new silhouette. After the light died down, she appeared in the same school uniform the other girl was wearing. I bet if this story got an anime adaption, Tohka would have gotten a transformation sequence. I seriously hoped they would remove the nude part.

Despite being in a more normal clothing, Tohka still looked displeased. She took a look at her new clothes she crossed her arms with a 'hmph'. "I only based it on what I saw so there will a few differences. It shouldn't be a problem, however."

"It looks similar enough." I was impressed by the similarities. "I didn't know your dress can do that. Sure is convinient."

It would have been much better had she done it earlier, though.

Tohka didn't respond. She just excitedly came near me. "More importantly, where are we going?"

Sigh, I forgot about the biggest problem. I had no experience in dating. I knew you're suppose to bring the girl to somewhere they like but I didn't know where should I choose. I didn't understand Tohka's preferences. Worse, I couldn't receive help, not that it would make much difference otherwise. So no plan, no backup, no reinforcement. What a nice day this was.

"Is there anything wrong?" Tohka asked after seeing my worried face.

"No, it's nothing. Come on, let go." I turned around and started moving. Tohka followed me from behind. Okay then, let get this date going.

At that moment, I suddenly felt a chill. It was like I was being threaten by something or someone. I decided to ignore it and continued on.

_In other locations, several girls were thinking about killing Kyon. They didn't know why did they think that and soon put it away. However, there were some who was seriously considering doing it. In their minds, they had a very good idea what to do to Kyon when they meet him._

* * *

Author's note: This is my first time trying to write from someone else's perspective beside Kyon so I'm sorry if it's not good.

It's too bad. I intended to write a 10000 words long chapter but I guess I'm not good enough for that.

I also intend to write something like a prequel to this story. A cross with Kizumonogatari. What do you think?

As for my cross with Blazblue, I still have no idea what to do. My knowledge about that series is more limited than I first thought. Sorry.

Finally, I don't know if you know this but Shinobu was actually voiced by Aya Hirano in an audio adaptation of Monogatari.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note: You know, I have been wondering something. Is there any fics with Vali as the main character? (Beside the cross with Campione). I wonder why no one likes to write a fic about him. They always to create an OC and replace Issei while Vali is an interesting character with potental for a good story. Especially since his group loves to travel around and fights strong opponent. In fact, I may consider writing it, if I can.

Another thing, is there anyone interested in a Campione/Monogatari cross? Those two worlds seem to have a lot of similarities. They both deal with supernatural beings born out of human's belief. I think it would make a good story.

* * *

Tohka was, you could say, was a fish out of the water. Unsurprisingly, considering who she was. She came from a different world. A different world which was obviously a lot stranger than this one. Even worse, she had no memories about that place. During my talk with her, she said that she always enter somekind of trance-like state when she goes back. When she first came to this world, she had absolutely no idea who she is or how she got here. She only knew that she didn't belong here and how to use her power. She didn't even know her name.

Because of this, our date was a little awkward. Tohka believed that the world is a wasteland which had no one else beside the AST in it so once she saw a whole bunch of people on the street, she immediately thought she was about to be attacked by a huge army. Stopping her from annihilating everyone was much more difficult than you would think. She also didn't know pretty much every common knowledge. To my horror, I also discovered that she was a big eater. Yes, she definitely was. I could only watch in despair as she ate the insane amount of food without stopping and still wanted more. My despair increased even more when I realized that her stomach was a mini black hole. No matter how much she put in it, her hunger wouldn't stop. In fact, her love of food was so strong that she thought date meant giving food to someone. It was kinda sad that she wasn't too far from the truth. Strangely, I once saw a frying pan in her mouth. Yeah, it was probably just my imagination. I didn't pay too much attention into it, anyways. I was busily comforting my crying wallet. When I was far away from Haruhi, I thought my money luck would get better. Oh, how wrong I was.

When we came to the third shop, I was met by one big surprise. All of the staffs, from the waiter and the chief, were members of the Ratatokr. Kotori was there too. I realized it when she tried to hit her with a tray. Fortunately, I was able to block it. It still hurt, though. Surprisingly, they were very good at being the staffs. Not just the restaurant, they also acted as the staffs in several places we came to and never failed to impress. They must have trained for this. That actually made them more impressive... and also a little more crazy. I mean, who would have plan for when a Spirit comes without causing a spacequake? It was unprecedented. I do suppose Kotori wouldn't take any chances. If so, she was a better leader than what I thought at that time.

Also, everyime I looked at a corner. I always see a figure behind me. The only thing I could see of them was something silver. Even now, I wonder what it was?

The Ratatoskr's members secretly guided us around. At first, it was normal. They would point us to somewhere like a restaurant, bakery, festival (Which replaced a sealed road all of the sudden) or a playground. My opinion of them was actually about to increase. Then they just had to point us to this place. Standing before me and Tohka, was a large building. A very high-class building, I must add. There was a sign in front of it. Just from one look, I knew the place was bad news. I immediately grabbed Tohka's hand and moved away. That action snapped Tohka out of her excitement.

"Ah, Kyon. What are you doing?" She tried to pull us back but I was much stronger than her. She added more force to her legs but it was still no good. "Why are you walking away? Didn't you promise you would follow me? I want to go in there!" She was very much annoyed by what I was doing.

I could only sigh. The promise Tohka mentioned was when we were participating in the recently made festival. She saw my sad face and started being sad herself. She didn't like that she was the only one happy. I told her I wasn't and made that promise to comfort her. She did learn what a date really mean so it was actually a good thing. It would have been much better, however, had it not been followed by that little hotel. The fact it was in an alleyway was suspicious enough. I only needed one look to know it wasn't somewhere I needed to go. In fact, it would be for the best if I never came to that place. After all, it was a... love hotel. Sigh, I could never understand what those guys were thinking.

"Tohka, trust me, we don't need to go there." I turned around and said to Tohka. My words didn't improve her mood. She was too curious in that hotel. Realizing this, I sighed one more time. "I will bring you to someplace better."

"Really!?" I finally managed to switch her interest to something else. She was then looking at me with sparkling eyes. She also clapped her hands together. "What is it? Tell me! Tell me!"

It took a lot of effort to not laugh at her. She was just like a child. However, I couldn't give into my urge lest I lost an important part of my body. I only shook my head and walked away with Tohka behind me. We walked for some more minutes before an unexpected thing happened. Something dropped on my face. It was water. I looked up to the sky. Even more were dropping to the ground. It was raining. The sky was as dark as when night comes. Quite strange, considering it was very bright just a few seconds ago. Unfortunately, I didn't bring an umbrella with and neither was Tohka. We were forced to run to the shelter with our hands above our heads. Luckily, there was an arcade near where we were so we hid in front of it. There was no one else beside a little girl who was staring at the wall. She wore a green jacket with something like rabbit ears on top of it. When I looked at her, something looked back at me. It was a doll on her hand. It smiled at me when it noticed my presence. I just shrugged my shoulders and looked away. I sensed something strange about her but it was probably just my imagination.

_"Kyon, this is perfect. Go into the building."_ Kotori's voice rang inside my ears. I was able to get my hand on the intercom back in the restaurant so I was able to communicate with Fraxinus. It didn't do much good but it did make me feel better. When I heard Kotori's voice, I didn't want to do what she said. Her advises had never brought good things. I soon changed my mind, however, since I couldn't see anything bad about it. The rain wouldn't let up any time soon and Tohka would have more fun in there. I decided to go in with Tohka.

The inside was nothing special. It was just like every other arcades around. It did manage to overwhelm Tohka, though. She looked left and right with her hand above her hand.

"What is this place? Is this the headquarter of those mecha-mecha people?" Her voice couldn't her excitement. She quickly came and touch the many machines before her. Strangely, there was no one beside us. Ratatoskr worked much faster than I thought. It was too bad their usefulness ended there.

"Well, saying it's a headquarter isn't that wrong. This is a place where we play game." After hearing my words, Tohka looked around. Confusion was visible on her face. "Here, let me give you an example." I took another look around. There was a lot of games there. I didn't know what to choose.

_"I think you should play the crane game."_ With a tired voice, Reine-san suggested. She sounded so weak I thought she was about to join her ancestor. Glad it didn't happen.

I thought about her suggestion. It did seem to be a good idea. I wasn't good at half of the games there and I didn't have the time to improve my skills. Also, this would give Tohka a souvenir, something that would definitely please her. So the crane was a very good option. However, I still had a problem. There were a lot of crane games in the place. Each of them had different rewards. Tohka was too excited for me to ask what did she like. Even if I did, I think she wouldn't know anyway. Deciding to use one of my most... disliked ability, I closed my eyes. In the deep darkness, I reached out to a light in Tohka's direction.

"Hey, which crane games does Tohka like?" I spoke out the question in my mind. At first, there was no respond. Then the light flickered. A voice came out of it. It was similar to Tohka's voice but somewhat more high-pitched.

"I'm very sorry. I'm don't know." It said to me. The tone indicated that it was unhappy.

"It's alright." I was disappointed by this but it wasn't surprising. This power of mine allowed me to communicate with a girl's soul through a... special gateway. The gateway's a body part which I don't want to tell you since you would just call me a pervert. "Thanks for answering me." I said in a kind voice.

"No, I'm the one who should be thanking you. I won't disappoint you next time so please call me!" Her voice had became more excited. My words had improved her mental state a lot. I didn't think it was a good idea to do so but hey, I'm a gentleman. I couldn't let a girl be sad like that.

"I will do so. See you later." I said goodbye to the voice then opened my eyes. Despite talking to her for some minutes, no time had passed. Tohka was still in the same position as before.

"Tohka, how about playing that?" I pointed at a crane game near me. I figured that I shouldn't waste too much time and it looked easy enough.

"What is that?" Hearing my words, Tohka excitedly ran to where I pointed at. She placed her hands on the glass and widen her eyes to look what's inside. "I see something. Is that a bread? It looks tasty." She was drooling. Kinda like when she first saw cakes. I smiled at the scene. That girl still had so much to learn.

"No, it's just a pillow which has bread-like shape." I pointed out to her.

"So it's not food?" She said disappointed. Her hands started to fall down. She turned to me with sad eyes.

"No, it isn't." I took out a coin and inserted into the machine. The moment I did so, the device started up. It emitted some music which made Tohka interested in it again. "But you can still do a lot of fun things with it."

"Like what?" Tohka's ribbons were wriggling. The strange thing was, they did so by themself. There was no outside help. I didn't pay too much attention to this. I had seen a lot before and it couldn't be compared to some other crazy stuffs in my life.

"I think it would be better for you figure out by yourself." I replied to her. That answer was born partly because it was correct. Partly because I didn't what else to say. I never did use a pillow beside when I'm sleeping. "Here, let me show you how to play this."

I taught her how the game work. She listened intensively to my teaching like a good student, nodding her head each time I said something. She obviously wanted that pillow a lot. The moment I finished, she immediately moved to the console and started pressing. She looked like someone who was on fire while doing so. Sadly, she sucked at the game. More than five tries and she still couldn't get any of those pillows to the exit. She wasn't even close. Seeing this, I sighed heavily. The more she fail, the more money I would lose. I needed to take care of this, fast.

"Hey." I heard someone called out to me. Tohka was still focused on the game so she didn't notice. I looked around. There was no one beside us. I thought of the voice as a product of my imagination and went back to seeing Tohka. She didn't fare any better than every other times. She had gotten annoyed by this. She started banging on the glass. I think there were tears in her eyes.

"Hey." When I tried to stop her before she broke the glass, the voice appeared again. I once again took a look around. Still the same, we were the only one I could see. Then I realized something, the voice was quite close to us. It came from just a little to the right from where we were. I decided to look at where I thought it came from even thought I thought it was impossible...

And immediately face palm myself. I thought those guys were stupid but this was a whole new level of stupid. In a crane game near us, there was a man. I recognized him. He was a member of Ratatokr. I saw him back on the Fraxinus before. I think he was the oldest one there. I couldn't remember his name or his title. While it wasn't that surprising he was here, considering I had seen members of Ratatokr disguising as the staffs before. However, this disguise of him was way over the top... and stupid, if you ask me. He was wearing a one-piece while clothes while hanging upside down and pretending to be a crane.

When I looked at him, he just smiled at me and said, "Here, come play at my game. I will make sure you two win."

At that moment, I learned a new lesson. Being stupid was the Ratatokr's source of entertainment.

I slowly turned my face away and completely ignored him. I didn't even notice his disappointed face. I moved to where Tohka was and placed my hand on her shoulder. Tohka became surprised and turned to look at me.

"Let me do it." Unable to stand seeing my money go away anymore, I chose to do it for Tohka. However, she refused to move.

With the flame still in her eyes, she talked back, "No! I will get that pillow. You don't need to do anything."

I scratched the back of my neck. This girl was too stubborn to listen to me. If I forcefully removed her from the machine, I would just ask for a kick to my head or a sword to my throat. Maybe both. I switched to my plan "B". Don't worry, it wasn't like any plan "B" Haruhi though of. My plan wouldn't break any laws.

"Okay, how about we do it together?"

"Huh?"

"I will take care of this button." I pointed at the button on the left side. "While you take care of the other one."

"Will that help?"

"Yeah, it will. You just need to follow my signal." I spoke out my plan. After some thinkings, Tohka nodded at my words. Both of us positioned ourself and began to challenge the game again. I carefully coordinated our actions. Soon, the crane was able to pick up one of the pillows. Then came the hard part: Getting it to the exit. A slightest mistake could make us go back to where we started. We both stared at the crane as it moved slowly to the left with the pillow in its grasp. The pillow looked like it could fall anytime. My hand was still pushing the button while Tohka's was just above the other button, waiting for my signal. The atmosphere had become heavy. I felt like we were in a live or death situation. It couldn't be compare to some of my battles but it was bad enough for me to start sweating.

"Wait for it." I said to Tohka when I saw her shaking finger. I used my free hand to make a stop sign. "Just a little more."

We both gulped.

"Just a tiny bit more." The the crane was right above the exit hole. It was then or never. I immediately shouted to Tohka, "Now!"

She pressed the button right after hearing my signal. The crane then opened, releasing the pillow. It slowly fell down to the hole as we watched with patient. I was sure it would come out.

...

Unfortunately, reality wasn't so kind. The pillow got stuck on the edge and refused to move. Seeing this, I dropped my shoulders in disappointment. I was so sure it would be a success. I suppose life is like that: Full of disappointments... Or, maybe it was just not my lucky day. I couldn't decide which.

"Sorry, Tohka. I guess I was too hasty." I apologized to Tohka as I began to leave. I didn't have enough money for another round. The rain was starting to die down so I figured it was time to leave. Before I could leave, I noticed something in the corner of my eyes. Tohka hadn't left the machine. She still stared at the pillow. She looked like she was about to cry.

"Fall!" She shouted as I turned around. She didn't shout it to anyone. The one she shouted to was the pillow which was still hanging at the edge. "Fall! Why won't you fall!?" Tohka pressed her hands on the glass with more strength. I think the glass was about to break. "Kyon and I try our hardest so why won't you fall?" Tears then came out of her eyes. "I beg of you. Please fall!"

Then a miracle happened. The pillow who had showed no sign of movement suddenly complied with Tohka's wish and came outside. I didn't know whether it was because of the action of the Ratatokr or a divine help but it did fall down. Tohka was so happy seeing it. She clutched the pillow like it was a treasure to her. I felt the same as her. Life really can bring some good things now and then.

* * *

_POV switch_

The strange girl, Tohka, has never thought she would feel this happy when she comes to this world. Every time she arrives, she would only get attacked by those weird people wearing wiring suits. She doesn't understand why they attack her. She feels lonely. She feels like she isn't welcomed here. It's like the world is trying to reject her. She doesn't blame those girls much. Deep down, she knows they didn't attack her for no reasons. She knows she doesn't belong here. She is an uninvited guest needed to be rid of. However, that doesn't help ease the pain in her. Each time she arrives, she becomes more depressed. She just wants to be left alone. Why can't they do what she wishes, that's the question in her mind. She just can't take it anymore. Her mind was about to snap.

Then he came. He was strange in many ways. For once, he's a boy. He wears strange clothes. One which looks nothing like those wiring suits she has seen. He was somebody different. Most importantly, he didn't attack her on sight. No, he tried to talk to her. He didn't try to kill her. In fact, he hated the idea of attacking her. Tohka can't understand him. She was suspicious when he brought out those red and black swords of his. She thought he was trying to trick her so she would lower her guard but he quickly disarmed himself.

At first, she just thinks of him as a foolish man but then he appears again when she arrives at that strange building. Once again, he meant no harm. Of course, she was still wary of him. She knows he was just waiting for the opportunity to strike her down. She was absolutely certain of it. However, deep down in her mind, she has a small glimmer of hope. Hope that he's different. As she spends more time talking to him, that hope became stronger. He even gave her a name. Something she had been wishing for so long. Tohka, that was the name he gave to her. It's marvelous name. She likes it a lot. He didn't stop there, he was willing to talk to her. He explained to her about this world. The more they talk to each other, the more she thinks she was wrong. She starts believe this world is more than a wasteland inhabited only by those mecha-mecha people. She becomes more and more curious about this world. Especially when he told her he would bring her on a date.

Date.

It was a foregin word to her. She has never heard it before so she didn't know what it means. That didn't deter her from trying it out. When she went back to her world, that was all she could think about. She thought about it so hard that when she came back, she immediately went to find him. Fortunately, she found him soon enough. While at first, he was shocked by her appearance. The date soon started nicely. She learnt more about this world as she walked with Kyon. She was scared when she saw all of those people on the street but Kyon helped ease it. She then saw something else. Strange objects being displayed behind the glass. She was drawed in by their smell. The moment she saw them, she couldn't stop drooling. He told her they were food. He even bought one for her. She took a bite of it.

It was good.

It was too good, in fact. She has never experienced something that good before. Its taste was so wonderful she doesn't know how to describe it. She took more bites of it. She was sure she was in heaven. Not that she knows what heaven mean, of course. She came to belive this was what a date mean. She was surprised when he said it wasn't. She then believed that date was something even more delicious. He then brought her to more places. She experienced even more wonderful things.

Then she saw his face, it was a sad one. She didn't want to eat anymore. She didn't want to be the only one happy. She wanted both of them to be happy. Seeing this, he just smiled at her. She then understood what a date really mean. It was something happy for two persons. She was even more happy.

In spite of her happiness, however, she knew it would end soon. She would end up back in her world. Then she will come back here and destroys more of this one. She doesn't want that but she has no control. She falls into despair. Then she thought about him. He has displayed so many strange powers. He called himself human but she sure he wasn't speaking the truth. She believed him to be the same as her. If so, then there is a chance for her to belong here. After all, he doesn't look like he has any problems staying her. Of course, she knows that's probably just a pipe dream. Even so, she would make sure she enjoys this date to the fullest.

She wants to spend more time with him. She wants to be near him. She wants to feel his warmth. There's some strange feeling in her. She can't explain it. She only knows it makes her wanting to become closer to him. She doesn't understand it but she doesn't care.

She only wants to stay with him.

* * *

Tobiichi isn't happy. She is definitely not happy. Yesterday wasn't good for her and today has so far proven to be the same. She wasn't able to sleep last night. The thought about Kyon being threatened by the Spirit kept her awake. She only waited for morning to come so she could see if he's alright. In fact, the moment she saw the sun, she immediately got out of her apartment. It is unfortunate that school is closed for today. Of course, she knows where Kyon's house is. She knows every locations he likes to go. She just needs to go to each of them in order to check. That was her intention until she spotted someone. It was Kyon. He was alright. There wasn't a slightest hint of him being injured. Tobiichi was about to sigh in relief when we saw something else. Something horrifying. A monster in disguise.

A girl.

There was a girl beside Kyon. She wore the same uniform as Tobiichi's but Tobiichi is certain there is no one likes her in the school. She would know if there were someone beautiful like that in school. After all, she needs to know all possible rivals. Her being near Kyon, talking happily, was suspicious enough. The only one Tobiichi would allow to do that is Kyon's sister, no one else. There was also something else, the girl's face. Tobiichi has seen it before. She looks just like her target from yesterday. The one that took Kyon hostage.

A Spirit.

Codenamed Princess. A triple A class Spirit that appears recently. That doesn't mean anything to Tobiichi, though. She only needs to know there's a Spirit, nothing else. There was no doubts that girl beside Kyon was the same as the Princess. She wouldn't mistake that face for anyone else. However, that posed a new question: How did she get here?

It has been proven that when a Spirit appears, spacequake will come with them. That wasn't the case then, however. The alarm didn't get triggered. Everyone was still going on with their lives. No one was running to a shelter. There was report of somewhere being destroyed. In other word, there was no spacequake. A normal person would take this as a sign that the girl over there just coincidentally has the same face as the Princess, that's all. Tobiichi isn't a normal person. She is someone who cares a lot about Kyon. Thus, she immediately contacted her superior and asked for an observation machine. It was created in case something like this happen or when a Spirit with invisible or shape-shiffting power appears. You have to admit, they sure are prepared for everything.

Her superior told her to come to rendezvous at another spot but she didn't comply. She saw both of Kyon and the Spirit moved to somewhere else and ignored the order. She followed them around. Sometime, Kyon would turn around but he never spotted her. It wasn't surprising. She has trained herself to be able to completely untractable. The more she looks at them, the more her hatred of the Spirit increase. They were happy. It was obvious what they were doing. They were having a date. Well, everyone but Tobiichi. She came to a different conclusion. The Spirit has taken Kyon hostage once more and was then forcing him to bring her around so she could plan her next attack. Tobiich was not in denial. Not at all. She just wasn't able to accept the truth, that's all.

She couldn't accept this but she was powerless to do anything. She could get emergency equipments but it won't be enough to fight against a Spirit like the Princess. For now, she will wait for an oppturnity. Her superior has contacted her again and said she would come along with the rest of the AST and a special weapon. The Spirit is most likely doesn't have her Astral Dress on. She's vulnerable. This is a good chance to take care of her. The new weapon will help doing that. There's no evidences it would work but it's better than nothing. She will need to wait for her chance. She hates using Kyon to lower the Spirit's guard but she needs to get rid of that girl. Beside, she will help Kyon if she succeeds, she's certain of that. That Spirit will attack him sooner or later. Knowing that, Tobiichi becomes impatient. Kyon's life can end any time. She needs to be quick.

For now, however. she will just have endure seeing this nightmare.

* * *

The day was near its end. When the street was dyed with the color of the setting sun, the final part of our date started. Tohka and I decided to choose the park as our final destination for the day. The very same park which we had our first real talk. I chose this place partly because I put my trust in Kotori, Reine-san and Azazel's advises, partly because my wallet couldn't take it anymore. Of course, I could ask for Ratatokr's help but I rather not having more debts with them. From time to time the sound of cars or the cries of crows could be heard from a distance, but it was a peaceful place.

"Ohh, this view is amazing!" Since a while ago, Tohka had been leaning over the railings and gazing at the dusk colored streets. Saying she was amazed by the scene won't be too wrong.

"Kyon! How does that transform!?" Following Tohka's finger, I saw a train in the distance. Realizing what she meant, I shook my head. I then heard a faint sound of laughter from my shadow. Shinobu must have had a lot of fun today. Funny, considering she wasn't much better than Tohka.

"It's just a train. It can't transform." I said to Tohka whose eyes were glittering.

"Ah, so it's a combining type?"

"You can say that." It depends on perspective, though.

"Ohhhh" Tohka gave a strangely satisfied nod, then spun around to face me, putting her weight on the railings. With the lingering sun behind her back, she was like in a painting. I then wondered if all Spirits are this beautiful or it's just Tohka. I didn't really care, though. No matter how beautiful they are, I will still help them. Of course, that is if I am free. I am not somekind of martyr without causes. Suddenly, Tohka's face stretched into a carefree smile.

"It's a great thing, this date thing. I really, uhm, had a lot of fun." She was happy. A lot happy, in fact. I guess I did my job correctly.

"This is a nice place."

"Yes, it is!" She replied without hesitation and nodded her head.

"And the people don't try to kill you, right?"

"...Nn, everyone was kind." She shook her head. "Honestly, even now I can't quite believe it."

"Not everyone is like the AST." They also weren't a bad guy. I wondered I always get myself into situation with no clear bad guy. Maybe Shinobu was right. My luck was like that of an insect.

"It would be much better if everyone were their underlings." She said sadly. I then laughed at how absurd her thought could be.

"If that was the case, would I be the same?" I said jokingly.

"No, Kyon is uhm..." She thought for awhile before tapping her hand. "You would definitely be someone whose relatives were taken hostage and threatened"

Now that's a nice role. I wonder if I can get an Oscar.

"...Please don't let me think that you're an enemy." She looked at me with serious eyes.

"I won't." As long I can help it, of course.

Then I suddenly realized something. Have I ever told Tohka about that nickname? When I told her my name, I meant only my real name. And yet, somehow, she was able to figure out that nickname of mine. I didn't realize it before because I was busy being depressed when I first heard she said it. After, I could only think about the date. I wanted to ask Tohka but then I saw something. Tohka was looking at the sun. Her face... was sad. She no longer had the same bright face from before.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"This place is nice. The people are kind. It's such an wonderful place." With each words, Tohka's voice grew sadder. "And yet, I always take away a part of it. I understand why the AST attacked me now." Tears were formed on her eyes. "It's better if—I didn't exist, after all." She smiled. It wasn't the carefree smile from before. It was a sad, painful one. The atmosphere became heavy. It was like I was in someone's funeral.

"But you didn't destroy everything today." I pointed out. There was no spacequake. That was a sign that a Spirit could enter this world peacefully.

"I can't control its effect. I don't know if I can do it again."

"Even so, don't give up."

"Then what do you think I should do!?" She said with anger. Tears had started to fall from her eyes.

"Stay here!" My words made Tohka speechless. She looked at me with shocked face. "You can stay in this world. I know a way."

Well, not me but I didn't think I should mention the Ratatoskr just yet.

"You... do?" She said slowly. I think a small glimmer of hope was born at that moment.

"I do." I said it with confidence. "You just need to trust me."

"B-But, you know, there's a lot that I don't know."

"Then I will teach you."

"I'd need a bed, and things to eat."

"That can be taken care of easily." After all, I didn't ally myself to a powerful and rich organization for nothing.

"Unexpected things might happen."

"If it happens then I'll think about it!"

I replied immediately to all of her reasons for refusal.

"Is it really okay... for me to be here?" Even so, Tohka still didn't look convinced. "You're the only one who would accept me, Kyon. The AST and even other people not accept such a dangerous being in their living space."

"If they don't, I will make them. If the AST attacks you, I will stop them. If the world refuses you, I will force it to change its mind." I then firmly reached out my hand. "All you need to do is grab my hand. If you trust me, then grab my hand."

Tohka's shoulders trembled slightly. She slowly reached out her shaking hand. I waited for it to reach mine. I knew Tohka could do it. I was certain she could stay here. However, there were also doubts. This world isn't as good as Kotori or others belive it to be. I have seen many terrible things in this world. Devils, angels, oddities and even human. If you look closely, you will realize this is a crapsack place. Was it really the right decision to let her stay here?

I soon snapped out of those thought. My danger sense told me something was coming. I immediately grabbed Tohka's hand and pulled her with me as I jumped back. Behind Tohka, a huge fireball passed though it and destroyed the railing.

"Tohka, are you okay?" After conforming the attack had passed, I asked with concern.

"I'm alright." She said as she slowly scratched her head. "What was that?"

As Tohka moved out of the way, I stood up. I then turned to look at the attacker. Immediately after realizing who it was, I could only say one thing in my head.

Yare yare.

* * *

_POV switch,_

The AST and the Ratatokr doesn't like each other. That is a fact. Of course, the AST doesn't know about Ratatoskr. Despite their difference in method and mindset, there are times when they have the same thought. Now is one of those times. The Ratatoskr's members who were busily planning for Kyon's plan and Tobiichi who were preparing to eliminate the Princess along with her team immediately stopped when they saw what was in front of Kyon and Tohka.

It's huge. That can't be denied. It's bigger than everything they have ever seen. They blinked their eyes at first. The creature they are seeing shouldn't be existing, that is what they are thinking. The reason is simple.

The monster that has just appeared is a dragon.

A dark green Western Dragon with silver eyes. It stands on his hind legs, making it looks like a giant with dragon figures.

They don't know what is it or where it comes from but they are sure of one thing.

It didn't come in peace.

* * *

Author's note: You know, I have been thinking about something. Isn't Enki is a lot similar to angel? In the legend, he's a god but he was born from the other gods which was a lot more powerful and the one who created the world. Kinda like how God created the angel. So Enki is techincally the very first angel in existence. I wonder if you can say that? (Of course, I don't know much about the Bible so I could be wrong)


End file.
